Department for Transport

Dartford-thurrock Crossing: Tolls

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of the toll booths at the Dartford Crossing on levels of air pollution in Dartford.

Andrew Jones: As part of Highways England’s standard practice, a full project review will be undertaken one year after the main carriageway works were completed in July 2015. This will include an assessment of air quality.

Driverless Vehicles: Lasers

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks of the use of lasers by driverless vehicles.

Andrew Jones: The General Product Safety Regulations prohibit a product from being placed on the market, or otherwise supplied, unless it is safe. The lead department for these regulations is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Driving Tests

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving test examiners have (a) left and (b) been recruited by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the last (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) five years.

Andrew Jones: Driving examiner starters have to pass a compulsory training course in order to become fully qualified examiners. If they do not pass this course they are then dismissed. Information on starters and leavers is shown in the table below:  StartersLeaversOf the leavers, those who did not pass the courseIn the past financial year2321528In the past two financial years38928828In the past five financial years61459047

Railways: Plumpton

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times Southern Trains has cancelled a scheduled stop at Plumpton Station in East Sussex in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Claire Perry: We do not hold information to this level of detail. Govia Thameslink Railways, that operates Southern Trains, might hold this data.

Railway Stations: Horden

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the development of a new railway station at Horden; and when that development is expected to be completed.

Andrew Jones: Horden Station is currently being worked on by Durham City Council and is in the advanced stages of the design phase of development. The outcome of this phase will give direction to the funding requirements and delivery plans going forward.

Railways: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve journey times and train frequencies between Easington constituency and local rail hubs at Sunderland and Newcastle.

Andrew Jones: As part of the new franchise award, the Northern franchisee will be required before October 2017 to undertake a feasibility study, identifying options for journey time improvements across the whole network, including services in the North East. This will include possible changes to existing infrastructure, improvements to rolling stock capability and reliability and the implementing of changes to service patterns. Any resulting changes would be in addition to the local benefits secured as part of the franchise including the withdrawal of Pacer trains and the refurbishment of all the existing carriages retained in the franchise long term.

Nunthorpe-Sunderland Railway Line

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place to upgrade trains and services on the Sunderland to Nunthorpe line.

Andrew Jones: Services between Sunderland and Middlesbrough will benefit from additional morning and later evening trains. The line between Whitby and Middlesbrough (including Nunthorpe) will benefit from an earlier morning arrival from Whitby into Middlesbrough and the provision of Sunday services all year round. All trains on the franchise will be upgraded and fully refurbished to include improved seating, repainted interiors, Wi-Fi, real time passenger information screens and improved lighting. In addition, all the existing Pacer trains will be withdrawn by the end of 2019.

Transport: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve transport connectivity between Easington constituency and the six principal city regions as part of the Northern Transport Strategy.

Andrew Jones: The Government is working closely with all northern local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships to deliver, prioritise and develop a range of interventions for the Northern Transport Strategy, which aims to put in place a faster, more frequent and fully integrated transport system to connect up the North. In the short term, the £380m A1 Leeming to Barton upgrade will see the motorway connection between the North East and the five other city regions of the north completed in summer 2017. Network Rail are developing a proposal for the Transpennine Route upgrade between Stalybridge and York. Subject to final funding approvals this could be complete by the end of 2022 and would see an electrified rail line running from the North East to Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. For the longer term, we are progressing plans on projects which will transform travel across the North. These include a strategic study to consider improved trans-pennine connections on the A66 and A69; the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail east-west high-speed rail link; and Smart North, a smart ticketing system for the north of England.

Taxis: Licensing

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of private hire operators straddling licensing authorities in order to avoid more thorough licensing requirements under the Deregulation Act 2015.

Andrew Jones: Before these measures were introduced, the Department undertook an informal targeted consultation, which focused on key stakeholders such as national licencing associations, respected solicitors in the taxi and private hire industry and a union. The Department also conducted an impact assessment for this policy.

Buses: Exhaust Emissions

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department issues guidance to bus operators on air pollution control and leaving bus engines running idle while at a bus stand.

Andrew Jones: The Government fully recognises the potential hazards to health and the environment that pollutant emissions from motor vehicles can cause, including when vehicle engines are left idling. Whilst the Government has not issued specific guidance on the subject of idling by bus operators, under Regulation 98 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended, it is an offence to cause emissions or noise by leaving a vehicle’s engine running unnecessarily whilst stationary on the road - other than when in traffic. Local authorities also have powers under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002 to issue fixed penalty notices for this offence. We are committed to improving the UK’s air quality, reducing health impacts and fulfilling our legal obligations. Our air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, published on 17 December 2015, sets out a comprehensive approach to meeting our ambition for the UK to have some of the cleanest air in the world, including by implementing a new programme of Clean Air Zones. Under the Plan, by 2020 the most polluting vehicles, including older polluting buses, will be discouraged from entering the centres of Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Nottingham and Derby. As part of the plan, London also has a well-developed strategy for improving air quality, including the implementation of an ultra-low emission zone by 2020 - which will cover a range of vehicles, also including buses.

Highways England: Amey

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost to Highways England was of its contract with Amey for services in Area 7; and which other companies bid for that contract.

Andrew Jones: The contract awarded by Highways England was for a value of £422,720,000 over 15 years. This is the maximum spend allowable through this contract and includes for inflation over its duration. Other companies that bid for the contract were: – Carillion Construction LtdColas LtdCostain LtdMartin & McCann LtdRingway Infrastructure Services LtdSkanska Construction LtdGC Landscapes Management Ltd

Highways England: Amey

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what arrangements Highways England have agreed with Amey to provide services for Area 7 of the network on (a) reporting to Highways England, (b) monitoring fulfilment of that contract and (c) options for early termination.

Andrew Jones: For Area 7, Amey will report to Highways England on a monthly basis using robust bespoke performance management. This is designed to drive continuous improvement and ensure compliance with their Maintenance and Response (M&R) Contract, using a combination of quantitative metrics and performance indicators. Amey will also be subject to an annual review and, every three years, a full Service Review will be carried out on the appropriateness of the service required and the method of payment. The M&R Contract includes provision for early termination for poor performance. Highways England will monitor the response to poor performance and invoke appropriate action through an escalation process which includes the right for Highways England to bring in another contractor if performance is not addressed satisfactorily. Continued poor performance may lead to early termination.

M56

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of upgrading the M56 to a smart motorway between junctions 12 and 14.

Andrew Jones: No work has been done to estimate the costs of upgrading the M56 to a smart motorway between Junctions 12 and 14 as this scheme is not within the first Road Investment Strategy (RIS). Highways England is working hard to deliver the schemes set out in the RIS in the first Road Period 2015-20. Future investment in the strategic road network is currently being developed through Highways England’s Route Strategies process, which will be used to plan new investments in the second Road Period 2020-25.

Motorways

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average cost per mile to upgrade a motorway to a smart motorway.

Andrew Jones: Highways England has an improvement programme to create additional network capacity by utilising the motorway hard shoulder as an additional lane. This is known as the Smart Motorway Programme. The cost depends on the scope and nature of each scheme and is heavily influenced by factors such as the number of junctions and the extent of work needed to existing structures. Based on the actual or forecast actual cost of relevant schemes started over the past five years, the total cost ranges from £7.5-£8.8m per mile of additional network capacity (using a common price base of March 2015).

Highways England: Contracts

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contracts (a) have been agreed and (b) are still to be awarded by Highways England for (i) routine highway services and (ii) specialist goods and services.

Andrew Jones: For routine highways services and specialist goods and services, Highways England has awarded several contracts that cover the whole of England. One recently awarded contract was in the Area 7, for the East Midlands and Lincolnshire: Maintenance and Response Contract- this was awarded to Amey Highways Ltd on 14th March 2016 and is now in mobilisation.Design Contract - this was awarded to Kier Highways on 10th March.Contracts still to be awarded include: Construction Works Framework - Award is scheduled for early May 2016.  Salt Saturators - Award is programmed for 15th April 2016.Salt supply – Highways England intend to use the ESPO framework which is currently being tendered for the supply of salt. ESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation and Highways England are scheduled to award a task order for the supply of salt in mid May 2016Structural Inspections – award is scheduled for early June 2016.Technical Surveys and Testing - this is the non-OJEU process and Highways England has published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the Official Journal for the European Union detailing how firms are to register. Responses are currently being assessed and then assessed firms will be invited to tender for specific pieces of work.Weather forecasting – this is currently out to tender, with the award date scheduled for mid-June 2016 The Asset Led Delivery Model that is being adopted in Area 7 will also be rolled out in Areas 1 and 2 covering the South West of England and in Areas 13 covering Cumbria and Lancashire. These contracts will not be awarded until 2017.

Highways England: Amey

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what routine responsibilities are required of Amey by Highways England in its maintenance and response contract for the East Midlands.

Andrew Jones: The Maintenance and Response (M&R) Contractor for Area 7. Amey Highways Ltd, will be required to undertake cyclic and reactive maintenance, incident response, severe weather response and traffic management across the East Midlands and Lincolnshire. This includes : Cyclic and reactive maintenance:Schedule and deliver the annual programme of cyclical work to meet requirements in the most efficient and effective wayCarry out defect repairs to the requirements for each asset type Incident Response:Attend incident, assess and advise Area 7 ControlMake safe and clear up, including environmental containmentAct as lead if other parts of the Highways England supply chain is usedCarry out associated defect repairsAct as the on-road incident support function for Area 7Be Principal Contractor if other contractors are used Severe Weather Response:Provide severe weather response for winter, flooding and high windsWork with Highways England on weather intelligence to be prepared and proactiveProvide trained driver / operatives to cover the full winter serviceMaintain vehicles and equipmentProvide fuel used by fleet and management of salt Traffic Management (TM):Provide TM for all M&R cyclical workProvide TM for all reactive work, including incidentsProvide TM for Highways England activities and Support Services, including inspections and technical survey workProvide TM for events when requested

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total revenue has been generated from foreign-registered freight lorries under the Dart Charge scheme since that scheme's inception.

Andrew Jones: From the introduction of Dart Charge on 30 November 2014 to the end of March 2016 £11,212,158 in revenue has been collected from the registered keepers of foreign freight vehicles.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many penalty charge notices have been (a) issued to motorists and (b) subsequently withdrawn or successfully appealed since the inception of the Dart Charge scheme.

Andrew Jones: From the introduction of Dart Charge on 30 November 2014 to the end of March 2016 3,392,215 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been issued for non-payment of the road user charge. Highways England has taken a balanced approach to enforcement of Dart Charge by being clear to drivers that they need to pay the charge and giving them every opportunity to do so. As part of this approach the first PCN issued for each vehicle includes a warning letter giving the registered keeper an extra 14 days to pay their original road user charge for use of the crossing (and any additional road user charges accrued by the end of the 14 days) without penalty. In total 1,490,319 PCNs have been cancelled due to drivers paying the outstanding road user charges following receipt of a warning letter. In addition a further 86,195 PCNs have been cancelled following representation or appeal and 354,201 PCNs cancelled for other reasons including payment errors made by customers or early system issues which have since been addressed.

Crossrail Line: Dartford

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic benefits of extending Crossrail to (a) Dartford and (b) Ebbsfleet stations.

Claire Perry: In 2014 the Department commissioned a value for money review of the benefits offered by an extension of Crossrail services to Ebbsfleet (via Dartford). This report recommended further analysis before an informed decision could be made. Subsequently Network Rail have launched a Kent Route Study which will assess the need for, and feasibility of, rail network enhancements across Kent. This will include any possible extension of Crossrail services which would need to be underpinned by further economic analysis conducted by Transport for London.

Calder Valley Railway Line: Rolling Stock

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place as part of the rail franchise package for the Calder Valley rail line to improve rolling stock on that line.

Andrew Jones: The new Northern franchise will introduce at least 140 additional new DMU vehicles by the start of 2020. The new trains will be capable of operating at 100mph, be fitted with CCTV, fully air conditioned and have Wi-Fi fitted. These trains will operate on Northern Connect services including those on the Calder Valley route. In addition, over 600 existing vehicles will be fully refurbished to include improved seating, repainted interiors, Wi-fi, real time passenger information screens and improved lighting.

Railways: Calder Valley

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester.

Andrew Jones: Since the publication of the March 2015 Northern Transport Strategy, the Government and Transport for the North have been taking forward a programme of work on an ambitious Northern Powerhouse Rail vision. Parallel work is also taking place to understand the capability of the North’s road network. Detailed analysis has not yet been carried out on the potential benefits of high speed rail links between particular locations across the Pennines. However the recent Budget allocated £60million to help develop the options for a High Speed 3 route between Leeds and Manchester.

M62: Calder Valley

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of accelerating the upgrade of the M62 to a four-lane smart motorway between junctions 20 and 25.

Andrew Jones: The recent Budget announced that funding had been brought forward to enable Highways England to accelerate the smart motorway investment for the M62 Junction 10 to 12 scheme by two years, and to accelerate delivery of the M62 Junction 20 to 25 smart motorway. Design development work on these schemes is at the very earliest stage, and as such the analysis of the full economic potential of this investment is still being developed as part of the business case.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the proposal to the International Maritime Organisation to develop a work plan to define shipping's fair share in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the meeting on 18 to 22 April 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We welcome the paper submitted to the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee proposing the development of a work plan to define international shipping’s fair share in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiations on how the global shipping sector can contribute to the goal in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C, are at an early, technical stage. Department for Transport officials have been working closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and other departments to ensure that the UK is well placed to play a leading role in the upcoming discussions regarding this “fair share” and will continue to do so as progress is made towards a global solution to tackling emissions from international shipping.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the proposal to the International Maritime Organisation to develop a work plan to define shipping's fair share in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the meeting on 18 to 22 April 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We welcome the paper submitted to the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee proposing the development of a work plan to define international shipping’s fair share in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiations on how the global shipping sector can contribute to the goal in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C, are at an early, technical stage. Department for Transport officials have been working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other departments to ensure that the UK is well placed to play a leading role in the upcoming discussions regarding this “fair share” and will continue to do so as progress is made towards a global solution to tackling emissions from international shipping.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average maintenance cost per lane mile incurred by the Highways Agency and Highways England was in each year between 2012-13 and 2015-16.

Andrew Jones: As reported in Annual Reports, the average maintenance cost per lane mile incurred by Highways England and formerly as the Highways Agency is: 2012-13: £40,0002013-14: £44,0002014-15: £51,0002015-16: £50,000* * figures for 2015 -16 have not yet been audited as part of the annual accounts, which form part of the Annual Report.

Aviation: Public Transport Obligations

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent advice have Ministers and officials in his Department received from the European Commission on the compliance with state aid rules of awarding Public Service Obligation subsidies that specify airports both origin and destination.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We have not received any recent advice from the European Commission on the compliance with state aid rules of awarding Public Service Obligation subsidies that specify airports both origin and destination.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the Strategic Road Network Highways England plans to have resurfaced by the end of the current road investment period.

Andrew Jones: As part of Road Investment Strategy, we are committing over £0.75 billion to long term capital renewals every year between 2015 and 2020. This will allow for the repair and replacement of 80% of the road surfaces on England’s strategic road network.

Railways: Property Transfer

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to protect alignments of disused rail lines on publicly-owned land from inappropriate development since May 2010; and whether his Department has established any successor arrangements to BRB (Residuary) Ltd's former Property Review Group.

Claire Perry: There are various different ways of protecting land for future railway use but local authorities are usually best placed to identify such land. Guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government, ‘Planning Policy Guidance 13: Transport’, states that when preparing development plans and considering planning applications, local authorities should “ … protect sites and routes which could be critical in developing infrastructure to widen transport choices for both passenger and freight movements.” As part of the abolition of BRB Residuary Ltd in 2013, land identified for potential operational use was transferred to Network Rail. Condition 7 of Network Rail’s operating licence requires the Office of Rail and Road (‘ORR’) to grant consent for any proposal to dispose of any land in Network Rail’s ownership. ORR has issued a general consent, allowing some forms of disposal to be implemented without prior notice. The process for seeking consent requires Network Rail to carry out a wide consultation covering the rail industry and other interested bodies, including the Department, local authorities, ports and airports etc. Further details of ORR’s land disposal policy may be found at http://orr.gov.uk/what-and-how-we-regulate/regulation-of-network-rail/network-licence/land-disposal-policy The Department for Transport also has a role in protecting land for future rail use, for example through Safeguarding Directions for major schemes such as HS2 and Crossrail.

Driving Tests

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it remains his policy that Learn Direct will take over the driving theory test contract from September 2016; what arrangements have been made between Learn Direct and the current contract holder to ensure a smooth handover; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the procurement process and associated fees.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and learndirect have concluded an exit from the contract for the provision of the UK Driving Theory Test, which was due to transfer to learndirect in September 2016. Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd (formally Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd) will therefore continue to provide the service for some time. The cost of running the procurement process was reported to have been £510,380. This covers pay costs of £350,865 and £159,515 non-pay costs, which consists primarily of professional fees.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Internet

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the gov.uk contracts finder webpage for the Driving Theory Test And Other Computer Based Testing Services contract is not updated with the latest information for that contract.

Andrew Jones: This section of the gov.uk website is shortly to be updated.

Driving Tests

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual cost is of running the driving theory test under his Department's contract with Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of running that test under the contract with Learn Direct from September 2016.

Andrew Jones: The annual cost of running the Driving Theory Test under the contract with Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd (formerly Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd) in 2015/16 was £31.2 million. This cost was as a result of new contract arrangements, where net costs per test fell from September 2014 and again from September 2015. This resulted in a reduction in fees paid by car candidates from £31 to £25 in October 2014 and to £23 in October 2015. The estimated cost of running the Driving Theory Test from September 2016 with learndirect was dependent on the future volume of tests and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency estimates that the annual cost with learndirect would have been between £38 million and £42 million.

Railways: Speed Limits

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many temporary speed restrictions were in place on the national rail network on 15 March (a) 2016, (b) 2015, (c) 2014 and (d) 2013.

Claire Perry: The number of temporary speed restrictions in place on the national rail network for the dates requested, based on the weekly average during the rail period containing 15th March each year, is as follows: (a) 2016 – 374(b) 2015 – 226(c) 2014 – 325(d) 2013 – 270

Vehicle Certification Agency: Staff

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information (a) his Department and (b) the Vehicle Certification Agency holds on Vehicle Certification Agency staff who have left to join vehicle manufacturers in the last 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Any staff who left the Vehicle Certification Agency to join vehicle manufacturers in the last 10 years should have done so in accordance with the Business Appointment Rules. There is no requirement under those rules, for the Central Department and the Vehicle Certificate Agency to keep record of Vehicle Certification Agency Staff leaving to join vehicle manufacturers within that time frame. The Business Appointment Rules outline that for staff at Senior Civil Service Pay Band 1 and below, a Business Appointment Rules application is required only if one or more of the criteria at paragraph 13 applies.

Skoda

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which technical service tested the Skoda vehicles for the purposes of type approval; and which testing facilities were used.

Andrew Jones: The Vehicle Certification Agency has type approved a selection of Skoda vehicles. The Vehicle Certification Agency appointed TuV Sud as a technical service in accordance with the European type approval rules. TuV Sud have undertaken the range of required tests at a number of locations, including Volkswagen Group laboratories and the TuV Sud facility in the Czech Republic.

Vehicle Certification Agency: Staff

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the policy is of (a) his Department and (b) the Vehicle Certification Agency on vehicle type approval engineers leaving the Vehicle Certification Agency to join vehicle manufacturers.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Central Department and the Vehicle Certificate Agency do not have a specific policy relating to staff leaving to join vehicle manufacturers. The conduct expected of a Civil Servant is written in the Business Appointment Rules, which are available online.

Shipping

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to support (a) people in the merchant navy and (b) other seafarers.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 14 April to UIN 33210 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=33210). In addition, this Government is a signatory to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (ratification by the UK in August 2013, enforcement August 2014). This convention is widely referred to as the seafarer’s ‘Bill of rights’ and offers comprehensive protection worldwide, with robust enforcement measures in place, for all those employed at sea. Issues covered include fair terms and conditions of employment, as well as access to adequate food, rest periods, recreational facilities and medical care. Domestically my department is in close contact at official level with colleagues in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) who are currently in the process, in full consultation with social partners and industry, of updating National Minimum Wage guidelines for seafarers. This amended guidance is on target to be published in late spring 2016.

Railways: Standards

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office of Rail and Road on improving those practices of train operating companies which relate to compensation for delays.

Claire Perry: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR)’s response to the Which? super complaint into passenger compensation, published in March this year, included consideration of the regulatory landscape and other government interventions. As a result of this investigation, the ORR plans to publish a revised regulatory statement in June this year to clarify the requirements on train companies to provide good information about compensation in the event of delays, to support future enforcement of the “Information for Passengers” license condition. My Department is working closely with the ORR and the Association of Train Operating Companies to bring about improvements to passenger compensation. The Department for Transport will respond to the ORR’s report into the Which? super complaint in the summer of 2016.

Cars: Waste Disposal

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure car manufacturers incorporate waste bins in the design of their cars.

Andrew Jones: There are no plans to legislate for car manufacturers to incorporate waste bins in the design of their cars. Most cars already have a variety of suitable storage facilities for drivers and passengers to store waste items.

Highways England: Staff

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Highways England traffic officers were employed on 15 March (a) 2016, (b) 2015, (c) 2014, (d) 2013, (e) 2012, (f) 2011 and (g) 2010.

Andrew Jones: The number of traffic officers employed by Highways England is shown in the table below:PeriodTOS - Grade20101720201116732012160220131513201414252015144620161439

Department for Transport: Pay

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) median and (b) mean wage is of (i) male and (ii) female employees of (A) his Department, (B) Network Rail, (C) Highways England, (D) HS2 Ltd, (E) the Office of Rail and Road, (F) the DVLA, (G) the Driver Vehicle Standards Authority and (H) the VCA on the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The median and mean wages levels for male and female employees are as follows: Median wage  OrganisationMaleFemaleDfT(c)£45,747£42,103Network Rail£33,781£32,000Highways England£24,054£27,455HS2 Ltd£51,552£38,928Office of Rail and Road£58,152£40,900Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency£19,155£19,155Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency£25,328£25,162Vehicle Certification Agency£36,565£25,758 Mean wage   OrganisationMaleFemaleDfT(c)£51,012£45,335Network Rail£36,789£36,073Highways England£31,608£30,974HS2 Ltd£65,130£44,650Office of Rail and Road£56,597£45,445Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency£22,197£20,649Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency£26,108£24,826Vehicle Certification Agency£36,798£25,918 The central Department and its Agencies have historically had differences in mean and median pay levels of male and female staff. In 2014, pay, terms and conditions were modernised, including shortening the lengths of pay ranges. As a result of this, and the 2015 pay strategy, the differences in mean and median pay levels of male and female staff have decreased. The central Department and its Agencies are committed to continuing to reduce the differences over the next few years.

Taxis: Greater London

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking in conjunction with the Mayor of London to safeguard the licensed taxi trade; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Government supports choice for consumers, and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper. The Mayor, Transport for London (TfL), the police and local authorities have a range of tools available to them to seek to address any concerns they may have over the safety or performance of taxi and/or private hire vehicle services. Effective use of these tools allow both licensed taxi and private hire vehicles to operate lawfully and meet the demands of London’s travelling public.

Taxis: Safety

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what priority the Government attaches to passenger safeguarding in the licensed taxi and private hire vehicle trade; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Government attaches a high priority to passenger safety in the licenced taxi and private hire vehicle trade. The legislation that provides for the licensing of private hire vehicle services aims to safeguard passengers by ensuring that drivers and vehicles that are fit for purpose. This legislation allows local licensing authorities the discretion to set standards they deem appropriate for their area. To help with this, the Department has issued best practice guidance.

Department for Transport: IBM

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contracts IBM currently holds with his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Mr Robert Goodwill: My department has 4 contracts with IBM (UK) Ltd and details are contained in the table belowAgencyPurpose of contractDfTcAnnual Software maintenance on IBM SPSS licensing for statistical analysisDVLAQ Radar Security Monitoring ToolDVLAIBM Software-Extended SupportDVLAIBM Enterprise Licensing Agreement (ELA)

Airports: Air Pollution

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will make it its policy not to permit any airport expansion that would worsen air quality in an area where breaches to current or likely future air quality limits are already anticipated or where there is a significant risk of such expansion causing breaches to current or likely future limits.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is determined to meet the requirements set out in the Ambient Air Quality Directive and to do so in the shortest time possible. As set out in the recent National Air Quality Plan, the Government intends and expects that the UK will be fully compliant by 2025. Any decision regarding future airport capacity will take into account the Government’s Air Quality Plan and its commitment to comply with EU air quality limit values.

Bus Services: Subsidies

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department provided in bus subsidies to each local authority in England in each year since 2010.

Andrew Jones: The majority of public funding for local bus services is via block grant provided to local authorities in England from the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, since 2014, my Department has also provided around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to English local authorities each year to help deliver bus services. Details of BSOG grant allocations for previous years are published in tables on the GOV.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/search?q=Bus+Service+Operators+Grant

A23 and M23: Litter

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) prevent and (b) collect litter and waste on the A23/M23.

Andrew Jones: Highways England is responsible for litter clearance on all sections of the M23. It carries out regular inspections to monitor the state of the network and to ensure that they are complying with Environmental Protection Act regulations. Mid Sussex District Council is responsible for litter picking the A23 trunk road, with the exception of the section between Hooley to Central London which is the responsibility of Transport for London. Regular meetings between Highways England and the council are held to establish the most appropriate ways to keep the road clear of litter. We are currently agreeing a new framework for working jointly to share traffic management nationally which should be in place in Mid-Sussex and the South East by early June. Highways England has also set up a liaison group with Surrey County Council and other authorities to look at ways to prevent litter being discarded on our highways and roads.

National Air Traffic Services: Government Shareholding

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 1.302 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what progress his Department has made on exploring the sale of the Government's 49 per cent shareholding in the National Air Traffic Service.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department is in the early stages of developing its approach to exploring options on the potential sale of the Government’s shares. No decision has been made on how it will realise value from its stake in NATS.

Thameslink Railway Line: Rolling Stock

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page two of the minutes of the Office of Rail and Road's board meeting on 22 September 2015, what the Govia Thameslink class 700 evacuation safety risks are that are referred to in those minutes.

Claire Perry: The evacuation safety risk referred to in the Office of Rail and Road’s Board meeting on 22 September 2015 relates to evacuation from a class 700 new Thameslink train in the Snow Hill Tunnels within the Thameslink core section. The Office of Rail and Road has since confirmed that this is a matter for the London Fire Brigade to consider. Both Network Rail, the infrastructure operator, and Govia Thameslink Railway, the Thameslink train operator, have met with the Fire Brigade to discuss the matter. We understand that the London Fire Brigade is content with the measures that have been put in place.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Pay

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average annual salary was for each military rank in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the level of such salaries in each of the next five years.

Mark Lancaster: Information on the mode average annual salary for each military rank in the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy between Financial Years (FY) 2009-10 and 2014-15 are set out in the tables below. The average used in the tables is the mode, the most frequently occurring salary at that rank. Table 1a: This table shows the Illustrative rates of annual military salary (in terms of Navy ranks) for Navy Personnel as at 1 April 2015.  Financial Year 2011-12 (£)Financial Year 2012-13 (£)Financial Year 2013-14 (£)Financial Year 2014-15 (£)Financial Year 2015-16 (£)Officers Annual salary Admiral (Level 4)114,678114,678114,678115,911117,070Commodore (Level 1)97,03097,03097,03098,17299,154Captain (Level 1)81,31081,31081,31082,38183,205Commander (Level 9)77,61777,61777,61778,73779,524Lieutenant Commander (Level 9)57,19957,19957,19958,02558,605Lieutenant (Level 9)45,09045,09045,09045,74146,199Sub-Lieutenant (Level 7)30,36930,36930,36930,80731,115Sub-Lieutenant (Level 5)24,61524,61524,97125,22025,472 Other Ranks annual salary Warrant Officer I (Level 7 H)46,75346,75347,42847,90248,381Warrant Officer II (Level 9 H)43,25243,25243,87644,31544,758Chief Petty Officer (Level 9 H)43,25243,25243,87644,31544,758Petty Officer (Level 7 H)36,92936,92937,46237,83638,215Leading Rate (Level 7 H)33,18233,18233,66133,99834,338Lance Corporal (Level 9 L)24,23024,23024,58024,82625,074Able Rating (Level 2 L)17,73617,98618,24518,42818,612Table 1b: This table shows the Illustrative rates of annual military salary (in terms of Army ranks) for Army Personnel as at 1 April 2015.  Financial Year 2011-12 (£)Financial Year 2012-13 (£)Financial Year 2013-14 (£)Financial Year 2014-15 (£)Financial Year 2015-16 (£)Officers Annual salary General (Level 3)112,476112,476112,476113,687114,824Brigadier (Level 5)100,964100,964100,964102,145103,167Colonel (Level 2)82,32182,32182,32183,40284,236Lieutenant Colonel (Level 2)67,92067,92067,92068,90069,589Major (Level 6)53,66153,66153,66154,43654,980Captain (Level 2)38,93238,93238,93239,49339,888Lieutenant (Level 8)31,14731,14731,14731,59631,9122nd Lieutenant (Level 5)24,61524,61524,97125,22025,472 Other Ranks annual salary Warrant Officer I (Level 4 H)44,44844,44845,08945,54045,995Warrant Officer II (Level 9 H43,25243,25243,87644,31544,758Staff Sergeant (Level 7 L)38,25638,25638,80839,19639,588Sergeant (Level 7 H)36,92936,92937,46237,83638,215Corporal (Level 7 H)33,18233,18233,66133,99834,338Lance Corporal (Level 9 H)28,94028,94029,35729,65129,947Private (Level 7 L)22,35922,35922,68222,90823,138Note: The Rank of Lance Corporal was introduced in 2008 in the Royal Marines. Table 1c: This table shows the Illustrative rates of annual military salary (in terms of RAF ranks) for RAF Personnel as at 1 April 2015.  Financial Year 2011-12 (£)Financial Year 2012-13 (£)Financial Year 2013-14 (£)Financial Year 2014-15 (£)Financial Year 2015-16 (£)Officers Annual salary Air Chief Marshal (Level 3)112,476112,476112,476113,687114,824Air Commodore (Level 3)98,99598,99598,995100,157101,158Group Captain (Level 3)83,33683,33683,33684,42785,272Wing Commander (Level 9)77,61777,61777,61778,73779,524Squadron Leader (Level 9)57,19957,19957,19958,02558,605Flight Lieutenant (Level 9)45,09045,09045,09045,74146,199Flying Officer (Level 6)29,58729,58729,58730,01430,314Pilot Officer (Level 5)24,61524,61524,97125,22025,472 Other Ranks annual salary Warrant Officer (Level 7 H)46,75346,75347,42847,90248,381Flight Sergeant (Level 9 H)43,25243,25243,87644,31544,758Sergeant (Level 7 H)36,92936,92937,46237,83638,215Corporal (Level 7 H)33,18233,18233,66133,99834,338Lance Corporal (Level 8 H)27,59227,59227,99128,27028,553Junior Technician/Senior Aircraftman (Level 9 H)28,94028,94029,35729,651- The 2015 Summer Budget confirmed that the Government would fund public sector pay awards at one per cent for four years from 2016-17 onwards. Recommendations on individual salary levels are made annually to the Government by the independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what provision his Department has made for facilitating the in-flight refuelling of P-8As; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The P-8A Poseidon is capable of operating over significant range and will be able to meet the requirement for the core UK missions, for which it is being procured, without the need for air-to-air refuelling. In exceptional circumstances, for example to meet extended range missions, we will draw on the in-flight refuelling capability of our Allies.

Air Force: Cadets

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what mechanisms his Department uses to communicate its decisions to air cadet units.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Ministry of Defence, through the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO), has a variety of mechanisms to communicate its decisions and policy changes to air cadet units.Routine issues without any sensitive aspects are publicised on the ACO IT system, BADER, which all air cadet units have access to. These can be placed on BADER's home page on the scrolling news announcements.Departmental decisions that may have some sensitive aspects are normally communicated down through the chain-of-command by either e-mail or letter. Highly sensitive issues may be briefed by senior commanders in face-to-face meetings.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the lengths of the Poseidon P-8A contracts are; what forecast his Department has made of the length of time for which the P-8A will be operational; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what value of munitions and sonobuoys he expects his Department to purchase for use on the P-8A aircraft (a) in each year of the life of that aircraft, (b) from each country of manufacture and (c) of each product name; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of the (a) production and (b) subsequent support elements in the (i) UK and (ii) US of the Poseidon P-8A contract is; and if he will make a statement.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, Cm 9161, what (a) market value and (b) weight of UK steel will be used in the manufacture of the nine new Boeing P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 April 2016 to Question 33059 to the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock).



Maritime Patrol Aircraft
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CarillionAmey

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to publish (a) CarillionAmey's key performance indicators (KPIs) and (b) his Department's assessment of the extent to which those KPIs have been met in each year of the present contract.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence has no plans to publish CarillionAmey's (CA) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) externally. However letters are sent out each month as part of a wider Accommodation performance update to key stakeholders, including the Families Federations. These letters report on the following national housing prime contract KPIs. Service Family Accommodation (SFA) allocations;Void property preparation;Move-in;Helpdesk telephone response;Reactive maintenance;Statutory and Mandatory checks; andStage 1 complaints. CA have not met all their KPIs since contract award, however the Department has now installed a comprehensive plan in this and other contracts which CA are responsible for which has meant that as of March the vast majority of national housing prime contract KPIs are now being met or exceeded.

USA

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what value of (a) support contracts and (b) all defence contracts placed by the US administration with UK-based companies has been placed (i) with each company and (ii) for each product since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: During the period from 1 May 2010 to 11 April 2016, the US Department of Defense issued 669 defence support contracts to UK-based companies for a total value of $786,781,916.During the same period, the US Department of Defense issued 5,372 contracts for goods and services with UK-based companies for a total value of $5,017,778,595.In total, contracts were issued to more than 700 different UK companies during the period, for a wide range of services and hardware. The detail of individual contracts by company and product is available in the public domain, through the US Government's Federal Procurement Data System at https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/index.php/en

Defence: Small Businesses

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the proportion of defence spending that goes to small firms.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a crucial engine for growth and innovation in this country. In 2014-15, the MOD spent almost £4 billion both directly and indirectly with SMEs, equating to around 19.4 per cent of our procurement spend.We are taking steps to increase the proportion of defence spending with smaller companies and have committed to ensuring that 25 per cent of our procurement spend, both direct and indirect, is with SMEs by 2020. To help achieve this challenging goal, the MOD last month refreshed its SME policy, reflecting three core objectives:Engaging throughout the supply chain, not just with direct contractors;Reducing bureaucracy associated with procurement; andMaking engagement more simple and straightforward.The refreshed SME policy can be found on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-policy-for-small-and-medium-enterprises.

Military Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the expected value is of offset work resulting from contracts for the (a) F35 and (b) P-8A; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: For P-8A I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 April 2016 to Question 33059 to the hon.Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock). There are no offset agreements in relation to the UK's F-35 programme. However, studies have estimated that through competition UK industry has won approximately 15% by value of each F-35 aircraft that is manufactured. The F-35 programme is predicted to reach a fleet size of circa 3,000 aircraft.



Maritime Patrol Aircraft
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Nimrod Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date a MR44 aircraft was delivered to and accepted by the RAF; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: None of the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft were delivered and accepted by the RAF. At the time the programme was cancelled it was 114 months late and nearly £800 million over budget.

Armed Forces: Resignations

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel handed in a formal notice of resignation in each month since January 2014.

Mark Lancaster: Details of the number of Armed Forces personnel who have handed in a formal notice of resignation since January 2014 are given in the tables below. The information provided is an estimate of the number of applications made by Service personnel to leave before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period. It relates to those who have an application to leave recorded on their personnel record on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. Voluntary Outflow (VO) is defined as all exits from trained personnel which are voluntarily generated by the individual before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period. It should be noted that the figures do not include people who request to leave but have their application refused, or their application is not completed appropriately. ROYAL NAVY MonthNumber of Voluntary Outflow applicationsJanuary 201430February 2014370March 2014190April 2014150May 2014240June 2014130July 2014190August 2014110September 2014220October 2014170November 2014170December 201470January 2015150February 2015140March 2015140April 2015140May 2015140June 2015150July 2015120August 2015100September 2015180October 2015140November 2015140December 2015110January 2016130  In accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy, all figures are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.  ARMY MonthNumber of Voluntary Outflow ApplicationsJanuary 2014510February 2014570March 2014510April 2014480May 2014460June 2014510July 2014420August 2014320September 2014680October 2014520November 2014460December 2014230January 2015680February 2015470March 2015400April 2015460May 2015450June 2015470July 2015410August 2015340September 2015580October 2015450November 2015400December 2015210January 2016210  In accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy, all figures are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.   ROYAL AIR FORCE MonthNumber of Voluntary Outflow ApplicationsJanuary 2014260February 2014210March 2014240April 2014180May 2014200June 2014190July 2014220August 2014180September 2014250October 2014220November 2014210December 2014150January 2015240February 2015170March 2015220April 2015200May 2015160June 2015190July 2015170August 2015160September 2015210October 2015190November 2015270December 2015130January 2016250  In accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy, all figures are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.

Veterans

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the adequacy of support available to personnel leaving each of the services and (b) the effectiveness of that support by (i) service, (ii) length of service and (iii) reason for leaving the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The Government provides a comprehensive programme of support for ex-Service personnel. This includes an excellent resettlement package for Service personnel returning to civilian life, high quality pension and compensation schemes and measures to meet veterans' health and welfare needs.The Department continually measures the effectiveness of the support to Service leavers and personnel leaving the Armed Forces are entitled to resettlement provision consisting of time, funding and training, depending on length of service. Resettlement Provision is delivered through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) as performance of the CTP is continually assessed by Head Office by management of the CTP contract and the Key Performance Indicators. As part of the performance management process, Service leavers are asked what their reason was for leaving the Services.

Commonwealth: International Cooperation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with which Commonwealth countries the UK has (a) defence arrangements and (b) training and co-operation agreements.

Mr Julian Brazier: Commonwealth countries with which the UK has formal defence arrangements are:AustraliaBahamasBotswanaBruneiCanadaCyprusGuyanaIndiaKenyaMalaysiaMaltaNew ZealandNigeriaPakistanSeychellesSingaporeSouth AfricaTanzaniaCommonwealth countries with which the Ministry of Defence has training and cooperation agreements are:AustraliaBelizeBotswanaBruneiCanadaCyprusGhanaIndiaJamaicaMalaysiaMalawiMozambiqueNamibiaNew ZealandNigeriaPakistanRwandaSierra LeoneSingaporeSouth AfricaSri LankaTanzaniaUgandaZambia

Veterans: Supported Housing

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of supported housing in helping the transition of war veterans back to civilian life.

Mark Lancaster: Ministry of Defence (MOD) housing supports serving members of the Armed Forces and their families. Given the mobility of our people, and the sometimes sudden changes in their needs, we keep a margin of unoccupied properties available. Where housing is no longer needed, it is MOD policy to release it. The vast majority of veterans make a successful transition to civilian life and we have in place a range of support including for those who find it difficult to find accommodation. This includes the allocation of £40 million to a Veterans Accommodation Fund. The MOD has also gifted land for new veterans housing in the past; Mike Jackson House in Aldershot and The Beacon in Catterick

Ministry of Defence: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Mark Lancaster: Information on the number of Civil Servants who have left their posts within the Ministry of Defence is shown in the table below.MOD Top Level Budget and Trading Fund Resignation Profile – By Financial Year12 Months EndingHeadcount 31 March 201031 March 201131 March 201231 March 201331 March 201431March 2015MOD Main TLBs Total Outflow4,7104,4709,4256,1904,5853,755Resignation1,1901,2209701,0401,0701,135Proportion of Outflow25.3%27.3%10.3%16.8%23.3%30.2%Trading Fund Total Outflow8308052,9355555702,800Resignation195220195180225270Proportion of Outflow23.4%27.5%6.7%32.4%39.6%9.7%Source Defence Statistics (Civilian)Data is based on Total exits and Reasons for Leaving covering Resignation and related sub categories as recorded on Human Resources Management System (HRMS) by TLBs or provided directly by MOD Trading Funds.Totals have been rounded to the nearest 5.Proportion of outflow has been calculated from raw unrounded totals.Data excludes exits for personnel employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary or Locally Engaged Civilians for whom exit data is not available.

NATO

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on reform of the command structure of NATO.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Declaration of the NATO Summit in Wales in 2014 says, "We will ensure that the current NATO Command Structure remains robust, agile and able to undertake all elements of effective command and control". This remains our position and we fully support the reform work that NATO has done, and continues to do, to improve the ways in which it delivers military effects.We support the work of the NATO Strategic Commanders to optimise procedures and processes within the Command Structure to make it flexible, efficient, and responsive to the security environment.

NATO: Armed Forces

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) survivability, (b) sustainability and (c) readiness of NATO forces.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of progress on the NATO Readiness Action Plan.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of NATO military interoperability.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Readiness Action Plan (RAP), agreed at the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014, is progressing well and it will deliver enhanced NATO Response Forces, including the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), by the time of the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016. The UK has played a leading role in the implementation of the RAP: we have committed to spending 2% of GDP on Defence, and 20% of that on new equipment; we will lead a capable and credible VJTF (Land) Brigade in 2017; we have increased our commitment to NATO's Standing Naval Forces this year; and will continue to provide Airborne Early Warning, Air to Air Refuelling, Tornado and Typhoon aircraft to the VJTF (Air).Considerable work on survivability, sustainability and readiness of NATO forces has been undertaken. The RAP includes a commitment to generate an enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) including a VJTF. To enhance survivability, the eNRF has been designed from the outset as a Joint, Multi-National force with an appropriate quantity and balance of forces needed to effectively conduct the full range of potential operations. Integral logistic structures, which include the newly created Multi-National Corps Headquarters in Poland and a Multi-National Division Headquarters in Romania, ensure the sustainability of the enhanced NRF and VJTF. Enhanced NRF forces are designed to meet the readiness timelines that are laid down in NATO's strategic planning documents, including the Alliance's Graduated Response Plans.Considerable work on Interoperability has also been undertaken since the end of combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. This has built upon NATO's Connected Forces Initiative to ensure that NATO's Multi-National forces force are able to continue to operate together effectively beyond the end of combat operations in Afghanistan. For our lead of the VJTF (Land) in 2017, the British Army will operate alongside the armed forces from 13 contributing nations.

Aircraft Carriers

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what aircraft it is anticipated will conduct the majority carrier on-board delivery role for the Queen Elizabeth Class ships.

Mr Philip Dunne: The composition and size of the embarked air group in a deploying Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carrier will be tailored to meet the required task, including aviation sustainment and logistic support. The Department will continue to explore all potential solutions as the QEC builds in operational capability, with initial planning based around Merlin and Chinook helicopters.

Aircraft Carriers

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to test the suitability of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey for operation aboard the Queen Elizabeth Class ships.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Royal Navy has previous experience operating the V-22 Osprey from HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and HMS OCEAN. It is therefore possible that the Department will engage in due course with our close Ally the United States to explore mutual opportunities to clear US Navy and US Marine Corps V-22 aircraft on Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

Armed Forces: GCSE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many enlisted soldiers who were not commissioned officers gained GCSEs in (a) English and (b) mathematics while serving in the army in each of the last five years; and how many such soldiers gained GCSEs in (i) English and (ii) mathematics within four years of enlisting.

Mark Lancaster: The Army provides opportunities for personnel to gain functional skills in literacy and numeracy. These are the standards that the Army has determined it requires and links these functional skills qualifications with promotion to certain ranks. Individuals are free to pursue GCSEs as part of their elective personal development with the support of learning credits schemes but the details of such GCSE qualifications are not held centrally.

Bomb Disposal: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 July 2015 and 1 January 2016.

Penny Mordaunt: The Explosive Ordnance Device teams in Northern Ireland continue to respond with great professionalism to requests for assistance. We will continue to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the most operationally effective way.Incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel.The information requested on the number of occasions Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel have responded to incidents in Northern Ireland is published annually in the Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. A copy of the report covering up to 31 July 2015 is available in the Library of the House and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/499691/Independent_Reviewer_of_the_Justice_and_Security__Northern_Ireland__Act_2007__8th_report.pdfBetween August 2015 and December 2015, Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel responded on a further 111 occasions to incidents in Northern Ireland.

Armed Forces: GCSE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial provision he has made for supporting armed forces recruits to obtain A* to C passes in GCSE English and mathematics if required.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on supporting all new armed forces recruits who arrive without A* to C passes in GCSE English and mathematics to gain such qualifications; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence does not make financial provision to improve the Functional Skills (FS) of recruits before they are selected to join the UK Armed Forces.For those who join the UK Armed Forces, there are clearly identified routes to ensure acceptable levels of FS. Over 95% of all recruits, no matter what their age or prior qualifications, enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year. Apprenticeships ensure that Service personnel (SP) will gain level 2 in literacy and numeracy - which is the equivalent to GCSE level. The Armed Forces also offer courses in a wide range of skills, such as engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), construction, driving, and animal care.All recruits aged under 18 receive key skills education in literacy and numeracy, should they need it, and all are enrolled onto apprenticeships. The Armed Forces remain the UK's largest apprenticeship provider, equipping young people with valuable and transferable skills for life. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (FS (English) and FS (Mathematics)) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all SP accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision. Defence FS provision will be (in most cases) a blend of in-house and external provision. FS provision and qualifications have been available and publicly funded in England since September 2010, with the single Services funding the following elements:Specialist manpower. Sufficient in-house specialist practitioners to meet the FS requirements that are not met from external or Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency funded providers and, co-ordinate the delivery of that provision across their Service.FS staff training. Training for in-house specialist practitioners and support staff to meet the required professional standards, where this is not externally funded.Trainee costs. All direct and indirect costs incurred by Initial Training Establishments, where training has to be extended to cover FS provision to meet the minimum FS Entry Level 3 standard, by the start of Phase 2 training.FS resources. FS support materials, essential ICT, audio-visual equipment and associated consumables, and any other essential resource costs.

Armed Forces: Discrimination

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to protect serving and former members of the armed forces from discrimination in obtaining goods and services.

Mark Lancaster: The Government is fully committed to eliminating discrimination against Service personnel which is why we enshrined our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant into law. One of the core principles of the Covenant is that Service personnel should not suffer disadvantage as a result of their membership, or former membership, of the Armed Forces. The Covenant exists to redress the disadvantages that the Armed Forces community may face in comparison to other citizens.Every Local Authority in mainland Great Britain, and two in Northern Ireland, have signed the Armed Forces Covenant which encourages local communities to support the Armed Forces in their area and promote public understanding and awareness. Additionally, over 930 organisations have now signed a Corporate Pledge to the Armed Forces Covenant, demonstrating their support for the Armed Forces Community.Examples of steps being taken include developing shadow postcodes for British Forces Post Office (BFPO) addresses so that Service personnel can access online goods and services and launching the Defence Discount Service which offers a privilege card entitling members of the Armed Forces and their families to a range of discounts on goods and services.Information on benefits and concessions available to the Armed Forces and veterans can be found at the following address:https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/armed-forces-and-veterans/benefits-and-concessions-for-the-armed-forces-veterans-and-their-families/

Army Reserve

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Army Reserve personnel, excluding members of University Officer Training Corps, have served for a period of over one year.

Mr Julian Brazier: The total number of Army Reserve personnel that have served at least one year, excluding members of University Officer Training Corps, is currently 22,480.

Armed Forces: Catering

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the food served to members of the armed forces at his Department's facilities run by Sodexo meets his Department's standards; and what sanctions are in place to deter violations of such standards.

Mark Lancaster: The Department is aware of concerns that have been expressed about the standard of food served to members of the Armed Forces.The Department has in place a number of safeguards to ensure a good quality of food. These include; contract monitoring, site visits, reviews, customer engagement and assurance by Single Service catering subject matter experts to improve on the service provided.Any complaint over food can be raised through the chain of command or directly with the contractor by way of a complaints book.

Army

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many regular, full-time serving members of the Army there were on the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr Julian Brazier: The full-time trained strength of the UK Army at 1 March 2016 was 79,840.Statistics are published by Defence Statistics in the Monthly Service Personnel Statistics report. The latest such report which shows figures at 1 March 2016 was published on 14 April 2016 and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/515805/Monthly_service_personnel_statistics_March_2016.pdf

USA: Military Bases

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the 1973 Cost Sharing Agreement between the US and the UK.

Michael Fallon: No.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage enlistment from people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of (a) Royal Navy, (b) British Army excluding Gurkhas and (c) Royal Air Force personnel are from an ethnic minority background.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence is committed to achieving a more diverse workforce and is developing plans to meet the Government's commitment to increase the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020 and have allocated resources for this purpose.Planning is ongoing to ensure that new activity is evidence-based and resources are allocated in the best way to deliver the step change that is required.Whilst this plan is being finalised, examples of steps already taken include increased engagement with ethnic minority communities, using communications to improve understanding on careers in the Armed Forces and offering support throughout the application process where it is needed.The Armed Forces recently won two awards in October 2015 at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their Employability Skills Programme. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have also been recognised as two of the Top 10 public sector organisations for race diversity and inclusion by Race for Opportunity.Statistics on the diversity declaration and representation of minority groups of Service Personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence are published biannually. The most recent data can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015

Money Laundering: EU Law

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will identify for the purpose of Article 3(9)(F) of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive which ranks in the armed services will be classed as high-ranking.

Mark Lancaster: The Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive seeks to prevent the financial and certain non-financial sectors from being used for money laundering (the conversion, by various means, of the proceeds of crime into apparently 'clean money') and terrorist financing (the provision or collection of funds used to carry out any terrorist offences). In addition to the financial sector, the directive applies to certain non-financial sectors including lawyers, notaries, accountants, estate agents, providers of gambling services, trust and company service providers, and to all providers of goods when payments are made in cash in excess of €15,000. The directive introduces additional requirements and safeguards ('enhanced due diligence') for situations posing a higher risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, for example, trading with correspondent banks situated outside the EU. Amongst those additional requirements is a broader definition of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). Those subject to the directive are required to:   Identify and verify the identity of their customer ('customer due diligence') and of the beneficial owner (person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the customer on whose behalf a transaction is being carried out, e.g. in the case of a company, the owner of a sufficient percentage of the shares or votes), and to monitor their business relationship with the customer, Report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing to the public authorities Ensure that personnel are properly trained and that appropriate internal preventive policies and procedures are set up. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not a financial institution nor does it fall into the non-financial sector organisations identified by the Directive, and it is not a provider of goods where payments are made in cash in excess of €15,000. The responsibility of implementing the requirements of the Directive is for the financial sector and the non-financial sectors identified by the Directive and not the MOD. The new Directive gives additional guidance in dealing with those risks and issues relating to corrupt activities. As with all legislation it cannot differentiate between those nations, sectors and institutions that are more or in the UK's case, less corrupt. What this Directive attempts to do is give those organisations and sectors at risk of money laundering and terrorist finances the ability to make their own judgements as to what they deem as a high risk person (PEP) or transaction. Whilst ambassadors, chargés d'affaires and high-ranking officers in the Armed Forces are included in the Directive as PEP's, the financial institutions in particular will assess their individual risk. In some countries the military are involved and in some cases run the political and governing systems, this makes them a significant corruption risk. The UK, its ambassadors, chargés d'affaires and high-ranking officers carry a lesser risk than some others; it is therefore unlikely that the extended Directive will affect them. But the interpretation of the Directive is for the financial and certain non-financial sectors to interpret. The MOD takes its responsibility to prevent, detect, deter and investigate fraud (including corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing) very seriously and has undertaken detailed risk assessments to identify its risks, where needed implementing additional preventative and detective controls and undertakes due diligence on its suppliers. Transparency International publishes a Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index based on 77 indicators which assesses the existence, effectiveness and enforcement of a nation's ability to manage the risk of corruption including money laundering. The UK MOD scored an 'A' (very low corruption risk) in the 2015 index, the only country to achieve this in the G20 and NATO as well as being one of only two in the world to achieve this. Transparency International attributed the 'A' to the UK MOD having strong anti-corruption systems underpinned by effective independent oversight mechanisms.

World War I

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his Department's policy that DNA samples should be taken when the remains of British soldiers who died in World War One are recovered.

Mark Lancaster: When remains thought to be of a British Serviceman are located, DNA samples may be taken if there is a realistic chance of a positive match to living descendants.With over 300,000 British and Commonwealth personnel who died in World War One still having no known grave, the chances of one individual being linked to recovered remains alone are extremely remote.Whilst extensive efforts are made to positively identify any recovered remains, these must first concentrate on forensic analysis of the remains, artefacts and clothing recovered, along with examination of documentary records such as Regimental War Diaries. Only once this work has identified a relatively small group cohort of likely names would DNA testing prove practical.

Armed Forces: Death

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-combat deaths of service personnel have occurred (a) in total, (b) in the UK and (c) overseas in each of the last 20 years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: The information requested is provided in the attached table.  



UK Armed Forces non-combat deaths
(Word Document, 24.57 KB)

Trident Submarines

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has updated estimates of the cost of the Successor submarine programme since the publication of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

Mr Philip Dunne: No. As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, our latest estimate is that manufacturing the four Successor submarines is likely to cost a total of £31 billion, including inflation over the lifetime of the programme. We will also set a contingency of £10 billion.

Trident Submarines: Iron and Steel

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with which suppliers his Department has contracted to provide steel for construction of the Successor submarine.

Mr Philip Dunne: BAE Systems (BAES) is the prime contractor for the majority of the Successor programme. As prime contractor, BAES will sub-contract suppliers of steel and related services.Separately, Missile Tubes for the Common Missile Compartment are being produced jointly with the US and steel procurement will be carried out by US contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat.

Air Training Corps

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage young people to join local Air Training Corps; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Air Training Corps actively promotes itself through local, national and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Air Cadets website gets 1.8 million hits per year. Local Squadrons also regularly set up recruitment stands in town centres to encourage word of mouth recommendation. The most important thing is getting Cadets gliding again. This is ramping up this year and will be fully in place in 2018.

Islamic State

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on progress in the campaign against Daesh.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Members for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane), Bracknell (Dr Phillip Lee), Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately) and Newark (Robert Jenrick).

Defence: Procurement

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage innovation by defence suppliers.

Mr Philip Dunne: This Government announced a step change in our approach to innovation in the Strategic Defence and Security Review. We are developing plans to work with existing defence and non-traditional defence contractors, as well as international partners, to develop new technologies and innovations to stay ahead of our adversaries as technological advance becomes more widely accessible. We have also refreshed our policy to help small and medium enterprises as vital defence innovators, and we invest 1.2% of a growing defence budget in scienece and technology.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Switzerland: Trade Agreements

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice his Department has sought from the Swiss government on best practice in concluding a trade deal with (a) Japan, (b) China and (c) other non-EU states.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not sought advice from the Swiss government on these matters.

British Virgin Islands: Companies

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to require companies registered in the British Virgin Islands to publish details of all significant and beneficial owners and to place all such information on an online searchable register.

James Duddridge: Our priority for all the Overseas Territories that function with financial centres such as the British Virgin Islands has been for them to hold accurate and current beneficial ownership information on island in central registers or the equivalent, where they do not already do so, and to allow for UK law enforcement to access that information. The arrangement signed with the British Virgin Islands achieves this and represents a significant step forward in our ability to counter criminal activity and should be welcomed.As the Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in the House on 11 April, only about three countries in the world, including Britain, are implementing publically accessible central registers of company beneficial ownership information. If we had tried to push that on to the British Virgin Islands and other Overseas Territories straightaway, we would not have got nearly as far as we have. The actions taken by the British Virgin Islands and the other Overseas Territories puts them well ahead of many of our international partners.

Companies: British Overseas Territories

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to require all companies registered in British Overseas Territories to publish detailed annual accounts.

James Duddridge: The Overseas Territories are separate jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments under which they are responsible for company law.

Companies: British Overseas Territories

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to prohibit the use of nominee directors for companies registered in British Overseas Territories.

James Duddridge: The Overseas Territories are separate jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments under which they are responsible for company law.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what instructions his Department has issued to ambassadors and diplomats in relation to the forthcoming referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is in regular contact with diplomatic posts overseas to ensure they are informed of HM Government's position, including on the referendum, and are able to promote the United Kingdom's interests overseas, supporting our citizens and businesses around the globe.

EU Law

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Government officials engaged in matters relating to policies from the EU; and what the staff cost of such engagement is.

Mr David Lidington: Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government's priorities in Europe. The staff costs of engagement on EU business cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

EU Institutions

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the cost of travel for (a) Ministers and (b) officials to attend EU meetings in each of the last three years.

Mr David Lidington: The Government publishes information about ministers' and senior officials' visits overseas on a quarterly basis in the transparency data section of the gov.uk website. Information on travel overseas for staff at Senior Civil Service Band 1 and below could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Central African Republic: Peacekeeping Operations

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UN responds effectively to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.

James Duddridge: These are terrible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. The UN and Member States must investigate these claims urgently and thoroughly and hold the perpetrators to account. The UK supports the efforts by the UN Secretary-General to eliminate all instances of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers.The Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, The Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE, has made tackling sexual abuse and exploitation in peacekeeping missions one of her top priorities. The UK supported UN Security Council resolution 2272 which endorses the UN Secretary General’s decision to repatriate troops when there is credible evidence of sexual exploitation and abuse, and for troop contributing countries to keep the UN Secretary General informed of the progress of investigations.The UK Government will provide £1 million to support the UN's work to improve the suitability of deployed peacekeepers, design a reporting system that communities will trust, and ensure a stronger UN response to proven allegations. The UK will be hosting an international conference on UN peacekeeping in the autumn which will push for further progress on UN peacekeeping reform.

Central African Republic: Peacekeeping Operations

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UN peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic has sufficient resources to protect civilians and fulfil its mandate.

James Duddridge: The UK contributed £31.8 million to the UN Peacekeeping Budget for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in 2015/16.The operation is focussing on restoring stability, preventing human rights abuses, and promoting reconciliation. The UK will work closely with UN Security Council partners to ensure that the protection of civilians remains a priority in the renewal of the mandate, and that the Mission has sufficient resources to fulfil it.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with their foreign counterparts on the EU referendum.

Mr David Lidington: Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers and officials regularly engage with their foreign counterparts to communicate HM Government’s position on the EU referendum.

South Sudan: Sudan

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage Sudan and South Sudan to engage in dialogue to overcome disputes relating to the border between the two countries.

James Duddridge: I am concerned at the recent increase in tensions between Sudan and South Sudan. As part of our ongoing discussions with the governments of both countries, we have consistently stressed that dialogue is the only means of resolving the border-related disputes. We have also raised our concerns about recent tensions in the UN Security Council and continue to support the efforts of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel to encourage both sides to re-engage in negotiations.

Brazil: Mining

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Brazilian government on illegal gold-mining and its effects on indigenous communities in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We follow closely the issue of indigenous people affected by the extractive industries, including illegal gold mining, through continuous dialogue with human rights defenders in affected areas. Through our Prosperity and Bilateral Fund project work, our Embassy works closely with the Brazilian Government, business and NGOs to improve transparency and governance in the mining sector, this includes assessing the impact on human rights.We also work closely with our EU partners in Brazil on human rights issues. The UK acts as focal point for the EU regarding human rights defenders in Brazil. Twice a year the local EU Delegation organises a mission to cities where there are concerns regarding human rights defenders. Later this month representatives from member states will accompany a small EU mission to the northern part of Brazil to show support to civil society involved with indigenous rights concerns. This includes assessing the impact on human rights and indigenous communities.

United Arab Emirates: Political Prisoners

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with the government of the United Arab Emirates on the number of political prisoners held in that country; and what representations he has made on behalf of such prisoners.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly discuss human rights with the UAE. If we have concerns regarding arrests, convictions or sentencing we make these clear to Emirati authorities, as part of our broader strategic engagement.

Prisoners: British Nationals Abroad

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK nationals in prison in other EU countries.

Mr David Lidington: We collate statistics on the numbers of British nationals detained globally twice a year. On 30 September 2015 we were aware of 797 British nationals detained (either pre- or post- sentencing) across European Union member states.This figure reflect only those British nationals who have chosen to notify the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of their detention, and includes those who were detained on remand at the time the information was collated.

United Arab Emirates: Police

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received on the involvement in human rights abuses of police officers from the United Arab Emirates who have been trained by UK police officers.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not received any representations on the involvement in human rights abuses of police officers from the United Arab Emirates who have been trained by UK police officers. If we have concerns about alleged abuses we would make these clear to the Emirati authorities, as part of our broader strategic engagement.

Andargachew Tsege

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help free Andargachew Tsige.

James Duddridge: The Government takes the detention and welfare of Mr Andargachew Tsege, who was transferred from Yemen and is imprisoned in Ethiopia, very seriously. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has raised Mr Tsege's case 21 times with his Ethiopian counterpart. I have also raised this case most recently on 8 January. Our focus has been on lobbying for Mr Tsege to have access to a lawyer and a legal route through which he can challenge his detention. We will continue to lobby the Ethiopian government until Mr Tsege is given access to a lawyer, and our concerns about the process by which Mr Tsege was transferred to Ethiopia have been fully addressed.

Commonwealth: Capital Punishment

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken through the Commonwealth to promote abolition of the death penalty in all Commonwealth States.

Mr David Lidington: The Government supports a moratorium on use of the death penalty across the Commonwealth and works diplomatically and by means of projects to promote abolition in individual Commonwealth countries. Some Commonwealth member states are steadily moving towards abolition. Relatively few persist with carrying out executions and several are contemplating legislative reform. Fiji abolished the death penalty altogether in 2015.

Capital Punishment

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what projects his Department has funded in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016 to promote abolition of the death penalty.

Mr David Lidington: With regard to projects funded in 2015/16, I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 14 January 2016 to the Rt Hon. Member for Hendon (Dr Matthew Offord). (21301).https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/27418Decisions on the allocation of the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy in 2016/17 have not yet been taken.

Capital Punishment

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will re-introduce its strategy for abolition of the death penalty.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given by my noble friend Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 25 January 2016 in reply to The Marquess of Lothian’s question (HL5007). https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/28566

Syria: Politics and Government

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US and Russian counterparts on ensuring the Syrian High Negotiations Committee is involved in drafting Syria's new constitution.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has frequent discussions with his US counterpart about all aspects of the Syrian conflict including the involvement of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) in the political process. Most recently they spoke at the G7 meeting in Hiroshima on 10-11 April. The UK also continues to engage with Russia, including through visits of senior officials to Moscow. These countries are active members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) which is committed to achieving a Syrian-led political solution to the conflict. Working alongside ISSG counterparts, we are supporting the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian negotiations currently underway in Geneva, where the HNC is representing the Opposition in negotiations on a political settlement. Discussions on a new Syrian constitution will need to take place in this forum.

Bahrain: Politics and Government

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the state of democracy and human rights in Bahrain.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We welcome the progress made by Bahrain on their reform programme particularly in the areas of youth justice, the establishment and increasing effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s office, the Prisoner and Detainees’ Rights Commission and the reformed National Institute of Human Rights. Some challenges remain and we regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain. I did so most recently when I met the Bahraini Ambassador to the UK, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, on 8 March 2016.

Hassan Mushaima

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with his Bahraini counterpart the treatment of Hassan Mushiema.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of the case of Hassan Mushaima and we have raised it with the Government of Bahrain. We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments and to appropriately address all reports of ill-treatment of detainees. We also encourage all those with concerns about their treatment in detention to report these directly to the Ombudsman.

Andargachew Tsege

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compliance of the in absentia death sentence handed down to Andy Tsege in Ethiopia with international human rights standards.

James Duddridge: The UK Government is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We remain deeply concerned about the process by which Mr Andargachew Tsege was detained and his ongoing lack of access to legal counsel. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I have raised this case repeatedly with our Ethiopian counterparts, which has resulted in frequent consular access to Mr Tsege. We continue to press the Ethiopian government to provide a legal process through which Mr Tsege can challenge his detention, that is consistent with domestic and international law. We will continue to lobby the Ethiopian government until our concerns have been fully addressed.

Greece: Asylum

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on when Greece will have taken steps to ensure that its asylum system is compliant with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on 21 January 2011 in the case of MSS vs Belgium and Greece.

Mr David Lidington: The Asylum Agency in Greece was founded in 2011 in response to criticism of the previous system and the case of MSS v. Belgium and Greece. The same law adapted Greek legislation to Directive 2008/115/EC on returning illegally residing third country nationals and related issues.The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe monitors the case of MSS v. Belgium and Greece under the “enhanced supervision” procedure. They last considered it in December 2015 and will do so again in December 2016. There was no debate in 2015, which means the Secretariat were satisfied with the information Greece had provided.The UN’s Universal Periodic Review of Greece will take place in early May. The review will cover the full range of human rights in Greece, including the asylum system. Greece’s self-assessment will be available on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Afghanistan: Islamic State

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the threat posed by Daesh in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Taleban remain the main threat to Afghans' security. Although the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan is under pressure from the US and Afghan armed forces, local militias and the Taleban (with whom they are competing for influence), we assess that Daesh aims to expand its presence in Nangarhar Province in the east of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Corruption

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to assist the government of Afghanistan in tackling corruption in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne: I have been asked to reply.Helping Afghans to tackle corruption is critical to the UK’s engagement in Afghanistan. We are taking a leading role in raising the profile and priority of anti-corruption efforts and coordinating international efforts focused on interventions that contribute to the building of a stable political settlement and a viable state.The UK’s objectives are to:Change norms and incentives: supporting increased transparency, citizen engagement, civil society advocacy and oversight, and applying greater political pressure;Strengthen systems to reduce opportunity: supporting stronger private sector regulation, strengthening public financial management and administrative controls;Increase risk to individuals: supporting enforcement to increase sanctions, controlling access to the UK and increasing reputational risk; andMinimise risk in UK-funded activity: improving use of evidence and further strengthening programme and risk management.

Afghanistan: Non-governmental Organisations

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings the UK Ambassador to Afghanistan has had with non-governmental organisations in that country in the last six months; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Ambassador in Afghanistan regularly meets a full range of international and Afghan civil society representatives in Afghanistan and will continue to do so. The UK has made long-term commitments to the country's future through financial aid and political support. The international and Afghan civil society community will continue to play an important role in the future stability and prosperity of Afghanistan and remains a key relationship for the Embassy.

Ethiopia: Human Rights

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of human rights abuses against the Oromo people in Ethiopia; and what representations he has made to his Ethiopian counterpart on that issue.

James Duddridge: The UK Government is deeply concerned about the handling of protests in Oromia and the reported number of deaths, including many students. I raised these concerns with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros at the African Union Summit in January, stressing the importance of exercising restraint and addressing the root causes of the protests. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) also raised the issue with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January at the World Economic Forum. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission are currently undertaking an investigation into the allegations, and our Ambassador has stressed the need for transparency and that any members of the security forces who are found to have used excessive force be held to account.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the rate of progress of the implementation of commitments made by the government of Sri Lanka on human rights and the investigation of alleged war crimes.

Mr Philip Hammond: We welcome the progress Sri Lanka has made in implementing its commitments to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution it co-sponsored in October 2015. The Government has started public consultations on reconciliation mechanisms and on constitutional reform. We also welcome the Government’s cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as the progress it has made through the return of some military occupied land and the release on bail of some long-term Tamil detainees held under anti-terrorism legislation. We recognise that there is still much to be done and we remain committed to supporting and encouraging the Sri Lankan Government to fully deliver against its commitments. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) reiterated this message when he visited Sri Lanka in January. We now look forward to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ assessment of progress at the next meeting of the UNHRC in June.

Angola: Political Prisoners

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Angolan counterpart on the sentencing on 28 March 2016 of Luaty Beirao and associated activists in that country; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge: The UK, together with all the other European Union Embassies in Luanda, made a statement on this case on 29 March, raising our concern about guarantees of due process and the principle of proportionality. We hope that the legal avenues available for appeal will offer guarantees in accordance with the rights and principles of the Angolan Constitution.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it the Government's policy to invite a delegation of parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as official observers of the forthcoming EU referendum.

Mr David Lidington: The Government welcomes observers – either from within the UK or from overseas – who wish to observe our electoral process. The Electoral Commission accredits observers who may, once accredited, observe proceedings at the poll, proceedings at the issue and receipt of postal ballot papers, and proceedings at the count. It is therefore open to parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to apply for accreditation as observers.

Islamic State: Yazidis

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his European partners about asylum for Yazidi women who were enslaved by Daesh to allow them to access medical and psychological support.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly discuss the plight of Yazidi women and girls in Iraq and Syria with our European partners. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed the humanitarian implications of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria with members of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in December 2015.The UK is committed to supporting the victims of Daesh’s brutality. In Syria and the wider region, the Department for International Development (DFID) is funding specialised services for survivors and those at risk of gender-based violence. This includes safe spaces, psychosocial support, cash assistance and reproductive healthcare. In Iraq, DFID has deployed two experts to work with the UN to improve the humanitarian response to sexual and gender-based violence.Over the course of this Parliament we are resettling 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees to the UK. Resettlement is only one strand of our efforts in the region. It is complemented by the UK’s significant humanitarian aid programme and diplomatic efforts to end the conflicts. We believe that this approach is the most effective way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for those who remain in the region. To date, we have pledged over £2.3 billion of humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis, and provided an additional £79.5 million to Iraq to help support the most vulnerable.

Islamic State: Yazidis

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Yazidi women who have escaped from captivity by Daesh and are now (a) being given refuge by organisations in Iraq and (b) in refugee camps in Turkey.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: It is difficult to accurately estimate the number of Yazidi women who have escaped from Daesh captivity. Some reports suggest the figure could be approximately 2500 but there is no definitive estimate.There are now over 3.4 million Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq. Our humanitarian partners do not take into consideration the ethno-religious origins of people requiring assistance. Assistance is provided on a needs basis, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. It is therefore very difficult to breakdown figures for those being cared for by organisations in Iraq or in refugee camps in Turkey on the basis of religion.To date, the UK has pledged over £2.3 billion of humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis, and provided an additional £79.5 million to Iraq to help support those displaced by Daesh.

Falkland Islands: Argentina

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what response the Government has made to the recent announcement from the government of Argentina on a UN report on the extent of Argentinian rights over the continental shelf in South Atlantic.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) has no jurisdiction to consider areas subject to competing claims and therefore has no locus to make recommendations in relation to the Falkland Islands. The UN itself has acknowledged that the CLCS could not consider those parts of the original Argentine submission of 2009 that were subject to dispute. This would include the Falkland Islands.

Falkland Islands: Argentina

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Argentina on the future of the Falkland Islands.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Falkland Islands: Argentina

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to support the right of the people of the Falkland Islands to develop their own economy without interference; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Falkland Islands: Argentina

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on the Falkland Islands of the recent decision by the UN to grant rights over waters surrounding those Islands to Argentina.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many cases of alleged international humanitarian law violations by the Saudi coalition within the Yemen conflict presented to the UK and Saudi authorities by NGOs have been investigated by the Government.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK has encouraged Saudi Arabia to investigate allegations of breaches of International Humanitarian Law.The Saudi Arabian Government announced on 29 February that they are forming an independent committee to examine military activity in civilian areas in order to minimise possible civilian casualties; assess the Coalition’s rules of engagement; assess accidents, verification and targeting procedures and advise how they can be improved; and provide a clear, full and objective report for each investigation made including conclusions, lessons learnt and recommendations for future actions.We monitor the situation closely and we welcome any further information non-governmental organisations can provide to supplement the range of information we consider from a variety of sources.

Northern Ireland Office

Dogs: Smuggling

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland about the illegal trafficking of puppies into Scotland; and what assessment she has made of the effect on such trafficking of the transfer in Scotland of search powers from Trading Standards to local port authorities.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The Government takes the illegal movement of dogs and puppies seriously and it is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations, delivery bodies, enforcement agencies and non-government organisations to tackle this issue. While I have had no discussions with local authorities in Northern Ireland about the illegal trafficking of puppies into Scotland, the Defra Chief Veterinary Officer has recently discussed the issue with his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland counterparts. Additionally, there have been discussions on this issue between other Defra officials and officials within the Devolved Administrations. The Government has not carried out an assessment of the impact of transferring Trading Standards search powers to local port authorities in Scotland as this is a devolved matter. However, Defra will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and other interested parties to ensure that there is a full exchange of ideas and information on combating the illegal importation of puppies.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Leave: Voluntary Work

Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Government plans to implement its policy of providing three days' paid volunteering leave for employees of large organisations.

Nick Boles: The Government will be setting out plans for taking this policy forward in due course.

Universities: China

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the powers of appointment of university vice-chancellors for staff working in Confucius Institutes on their university campus.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 11 April 2016



Universities are autonomous from Government and responsible, by law, for all decisions about who they appoint as staff.

Further Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 13258, whether an hon. Member will be informed about a post-16 area-based review on the basis that their constituency is in the area covered by the review or on the basis that a college in their constituency is included in a review.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 13 April 2016



The Joint Area Review Delivery Unit supporting the area reviews will arrange for Hon. Members to receive a letter informing them when a review is being launched that covers any part of their constituency and inviting them to give their views.

EU Grants and Loans

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of (a) European Regional Development and (b) European Structural funding which will be received by the (i) East Midlands, (ii) East of England, (iii) London, (iv) North East, (v) North West, (vi) South East, (vii) South West, (viii) West Midlands and (ix) Yorkshire and Humber in each year between 2014 and 2020.

Anna Soubry: Within England, notional allocations for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) for the 2014-2020 programming period were made on the basis of Local Enterprise Partnership areas. Transposing these allocations to regional boundaries, the total estimated amount of ERDF and ESF for the 2014-2020 programming period for each region in England is as follows:East Midlands€598mEast of England€387mLondon€762mNorth East€739mNorth West€1132South East€286mSouth West€1495mWest Midlands€909mYorkshire and Humber€794mTotal for England€6937m It should be noted that some Local Enterprise Partnership areas cross the boundaries of regions and therefore the actual spend pattern may not wholly reflect the above notional allocations. Furthermore, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other local partners were asked to suggest the appropriate split between ESF and ERDF in strategies for their area and it is not possible to transpose this accurately to each region.The allocations for each year at England level are fixed in the respective programmes for ESF and ERDF.

Directors: Females

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise on 28 October 2015, Official Report, column 476, if his Department will extend the remit of the Lord Davies review of diversity on boards to include ethnicity.

Anna Soubry: To complement the work on Women on Boards, Sir John Parker has established a business led diversity initiative to end mono-cultural boards in the FTSE 100 boards by 2020.The Government has also asked Baroness McGregor-Smith to undertake a review examining the issues faced by business in developing BME talent from recruitment through to the executive level. She will be reporting findings by the end of 2016.

Apprentices: Dartford

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of young people undertaking an (a) modern and (b) higher apprenticeship in Dartford.

Nick Boles: Information on apprenticeship starts by level and parliamentary constituency are published as a supplementary table (first link) to a Statistical First Release (second link).https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/515077/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-level-and-age.xlshttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-heldThe term Modern Apprenticeships only applies in Scotland. In England, apprenticeships are described as Intermediate Level, Advanced Level and Higher Apprenticeships.

Training: Finance

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding his Department has allocated to publicly-funded training courses through the Skills Funding Agency in each of the last six years; and what proportion of participants in such courses were nationals of (a) the UK, (b) other EU and EEA countries and (c) other countries in each such year.

Nick Boles: Information on Skills Funding Agency spending on the adult skills budget and other programmes is outlined in their Annual Report and Accounts which can be found at the following links:2014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-20152013-14: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-20142012-13: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-for-2012-to-20132011-12: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-for-2011-to-20122010-11: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-for-2010-to-20112009-10 (Learning and Skills Council): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-learning-and-skills-councils-annual-report-2009-to-2010The Department collects self-reported data on the ethnicity of further education learners, but not nationality. Learners will be eligible for Skills Funding Agency funding if they are a citizen of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA) and have been resident in the EEA for at least three years prior to the start of learning and are ordinarily resident in England. Training providers are responsible for ensuring that individuals are eligible before claiming funding for them.

Minimum Wage

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that workers are not financially worse off as a result of the recent increase in the minimum wage.

Nick Boles: On current Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts a full-time National Minimum Wage (NMW) worker will earn over £4,200 more by 2020 from the National Living Wage (NLW) in cash terms. 2.9m low wage workers are expected to benefit directly, and up to 6m in total could see their pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution.What is allowed to be deducted from a salary is tightly controlled. The Government enforces this robustly, and is bolstering its resources to bear down on non-compliance through further increasing HMRC’s NMW/NLW enforcement budget for 2016/17.Employers can choose to set and change the overall, wider remuneration level as long as they are paying at or above the NMW / NLW minima, but they will also need to consider whether that package, overall, remains competitive to retain and develop the people and talent they need for their businesses.The Government has also taken measures to support businesses. First, from April 2016, the Government has increased the employment allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 from April 2016. We are also cutting corporation tax from 20% to 17% by the end of the Parliament, which will benefit over a million firms of all sizes and give the UK the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20. The cuts since 2010 will be worth almost £15bn a year to businesses by the end of Parliament. Furthermore, the Government is cutting the burden of business rates by £6.7 billion over the next 5 years.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for the proposed £1,000 immigration skills charge to apply to NHS nurses.

Nick Boles: The Immigration Skills Charge will be paid by UK employers recruiting skilled migrant labour from outside the European Economic Area. This includes employers of nurses. The charge will apply from April 2017. There will be a flat rate of £1,000 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year. Some public sector employers could benefit from the small and charitable sponsors reduced rate of £364 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year.As the independent Migration Advisory Committee stated in their January 2016 report on Tier 2, public sector organisations are employers like any other and should be incentivised to consider the UK labour market first, before recruiting outside Europe.

Apprentices: Construction

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will consider extending the exemptions that exist in the sea fishing industry to self-employed workers seeking Skills Funding Agency support for apprenticeships in the construction industry.

Nick Boles: Under Apprenticeship Frameworks, there are very specific instances where an apprentice is able to undertake an apprenticeship without being employed; where they are made redundant and where they are in an occupation that does not traditionally have an employer. In order to facilitate apprenticeships under these circumstances, specifically where employers do not exist, Government has provided funding to cover training and support. Fewer than 2000 apprenticeship starts fall under these conditions each year, of which fewer than 40 are in the sea fishing industry.The role of an employer in an apprenticeship, where possible, is considered vital and ensures the apprentice receives appropriate training, pay and support during their apprenticeship programme. The Government is therefore not considering widening exemptions that exist into other sectors at this time.

Apprentices: Sports

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with representatives of sports governing bodies on the option for Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence Pathway Two learners to study additional qualifications funded by the Education Funding Agency.

Nick Boles: My officials have held discussions with a wide range of sports organisations including governing bodies on Apprenticeships in Sporting Excellence. A decision will be made on these alternative apprenticeships after further consideration of the extensive evidence.

Learning and Skills Council for England: Bristol

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people were employed in the Skills Funding Agency Bristol office in each year since 2010.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 14 April 2016



The figures for the number of people employed in the Skills Funding Agency Bristol office in each year since 2010 are: YearHeadcount201160201237201338201438201518201618

Cement: EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the potential annual cost to the UK cement industry of the UK and French proposal for the tiering of free emission allowances under the next phase of EU Emissions Trading.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK cement industry of moving from 100 per cent benchmarked free emissions allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System to 75 per cent of the best in class benchmark.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential change in levels of imports from UK-French proposals for tiering in the next phase of the EU Emissions Trading System.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change on 14 April 2016, to Questions 33417, 33418 and 33419.

Apprentices

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what modelling his Department has done on the further employment prospects of those starting an apprenticeship during the current Parliament; and what estimate he has made of the rate at which he expects apprentices to secure employment following their apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: Apprenticeships provide high quality training to ensure full competence in an occupation, increasing the apprentice’s employment prospects. Latest data show that around 90% of apprentices are employed on completion of their apprenticeship training, 71% with the same employer. The value that apprenticeships add is also clear in the increased earnings potential of former apprentices. The lifetime benefits associated with the acquisition of apprenticeships at Level 3 are very significant, standing at between £77,000 and £117,000[1]. Higher apprentices could earn £150,000 more on average over their lifetime compared to those with L3 vocational qualifications[2]. [1] London Economics (2011) – BIS Research Paper Number 53, Returns to Intermediate and Low Level Vocational Qualifications, September 2011’[2] AAT and CEBR - Is a university degree the best route into employment?

Living Wage

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what equality assessment the Government has made of its policy to provide  the national living wage only for people aged 25 and over.

Nick Boles: The Government published its Impact Assessment of the National Living Wage (NLW) on 7 December 2015 which included equality analysis of the policy.The NLW has provided a higher wage floor for those aged 25 and over because of the need to protect the employment prospects of younger workers. The priority for younger workers is to secure work and gain experience so they can compete in the labour market. Additionally, those aged 21 to 24 have a marked difference in labour market dynamics when compared to older workers, evident through their median earnings, employment rates and unemployment rates.The design of the NLW reflects provisions in the National Minimum Wage Act allowing rates to vary up to the age of 25, under clause 3.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Skills Funding Agency data release of 5 April 2016, what discussions he has had with (a) education and training providers and (b) employer organisations on recent reductions in the number of apprenticeship vacancies.

Nick Boles: The number of vacancies on the `Find an Apprenticeship` website has been increasing from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15. The data does not reflect all vacancies as some employers choose alternative methods for advertising their apprenticeship opportunities. English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision sets out our plans to work with providers and employer organisations to reach our commitment of 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. The new Apprenticeship Delivery Board will encourage more businesses to develop quality apprenticeships. Members act as apprenticeship champions within their sector, working with employers of all sizes to increase both the number of apprenticeship places on offer and the supply of talented candidates.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Department for Work and Pensions on steps to tackle recent reductions in the number of apprenticeship vacancies.

Nick Boles: Latest data shows that the number of vacancies posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website have increased each year from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15. The data does not reflect all vacancies as some employers choose alternative methods for advertising their apprenticeship opportunities. We are working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that jobseekers are aware of apprenticeship vacancies. Vacancies posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website are visible to jobseekers on Universal Jobmatch.

Construction: EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on the competitiveness of different construction materials competing in the same downstream markets of the EU Emissions Trading System.

Anna Soubry: The analysis underpinning the UK Government’s position on the EU Emissions Trading System has considered the impact on the competitiveness of those sectors that compete in the same markets such as construction. We continue to engage proactively with industry as Phase IV discussions continue and welcome any research or evidence on the competitiveness impacts.

ICT

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department has provided for big data projects in the last 10 years.

Joseph Johnson: The Government recognises the potential of Big Data and is taking steps to ensure the UK is at the forefront of research and innovation in this field. Figures are only available from 2011, and since that time, the Government has invested over £520 million in developing the UK’s big data and high-performance computing capital infrastructure. This includes major investments in specialist centres such as the Alan Turing Institute, the Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, the Higgs Centre for Innovation, and the Hartree Centre at the Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus.

Apprentices

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether employers will be able to direct unused funds from their apprenticeship levy accounts towards supporting training apprentices working with (a) their distributers and (b) other companies in their supply chain.

Nick Boles: We want to give employers in England flexibility in how they use levy funds to pay for apprenticeship training that meets their needs. We know that some employers want to direct their funding to other employers, for instance their suppliers. We will consider ways this could be accommodated whilst avoiding additional complexity, maintaining the aims of the system and remaining compatible with State aid rules.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31461, when he plans to respond to Question 24897, tabled on 29 January 2016 by the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham for answer on 3 February 2016.

Joseph Johnson: I have replied to my hon Friend.

Institute for Apprenticeships

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will appoint a Shadow Board of the Institute of Apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: The Institute for Apprenticeships Board will be appointed through a public appointments process. The outcome will be announced as soon as the process allows in 2016.

Productivity

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the productivity level was in (a) manufacturing and (b) non-manufacturing jobs in each year for which data is available.

Anna Soubry: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides data on the labour productivity of the Manufacturing, Production and Service sectors between 1990 and 2015. These are presented as levels relative to 2012 and offer both output per worker and output per hour measures. The ONS data is copied below and can also be found on the ONS website.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many export licence applications made since March 2015 related to the supply of equipment to Saudi Arabia have not been approved due to non-compliance with criterion 2 of the National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

Anna Soubry: We rigorously assess each application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence will not be granted if to do so would breach these Criteria.Since March 2015 no export licence applications have been refused due to non-compliance with Criterion 2, although seven have been refused under Criterion 7 (risk of diversion to undesirable end users or end use).Information on military and dual use export licences is published as Official Statistics in the quarterly and annual reports on Strategic Export Controls which are all available to view on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed by each agency of his Department in each location in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Land Registry

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 1.302 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what progress his Department has made on consulting on options to move operations of the Land Registry to the private sector from 2017.

Anna Soubry: The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills launched a public consultation - Moving Land Registry operations into the private sector, on 24 March 2016. This public consultation will remain open for nine weeks until 26 May to allow public and stakeholders to respond to it.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Hotels

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the annual cost is of hotel stays in (a) London by policy staff from his Department's office at St Paul's Place, Sheffield and (b) Sheffield by policy staff from his Department's office at 1 Victoria Street, London.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Buildings

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the annual cost per employee is of rent, rates and maintenance for his Department's office at (a) St Paul's Place, Sheffield and (b) 1 Victoria Street, London.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Travel

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the annual cost is of policy staff (a) from his Department's office at St Paul's Place, Sheffield and (b) from his Department's office at 1 Victoria Street, London travelling to Sheffield.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Buildings

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the annual cost is of rent, rates and maintenance for his Department's office at (a) St Paul's Place, Sheffield and (b) 1 Victoria Street, London.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Insolvency Service: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location of the Insolvency Service in the last year for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: As at 31 March 2016, the numbers of civil servants employed at each Insolvency Service location were as follows:  LocationCivil ServantsLocationCivil ServantsBirmingham389Leeds77Blackpool37Liverpool42Brighton17London299Bristol35Manchester134Cambridge21Newcastle44Cardiff46Nottingham37Chatham37Plymouth35Croydon56Reading21Edinburgh36Southampton28Exeter17Southend-on-Sea28Ipswich42Grand Total1478These figures do not include 15 civil servants who were on unpaid sickness absence, career break, special leave without pay or on loan to other government departments and, therefore, were not on the Insolvency Service’s payroll on 31 March 2016.

UK Shared Business Services: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by UK Shared Business Service Ltd in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Skills Funding Agency: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed in each location at the Skills Funding Agency in the last year for which figures are available.

Nick Boles: The number of civil servants employed by the Skills Funding Agency is shown in the attached table and represents the position as at 31 December 2015.LocationTotalSFA Birmingham53SFA Bristol18SFA Cambridge24SFA Chatham20SFA Coventry381SFA Fareham23SFA Gateshead51SFA Home7SFA Leeds61SFA Liverpool16SFA London114SFA Manchester50SFA Nottingham17SFA Plymouth16SFA Reading30SFA Sheffield13Grand Total894

Student Loans Company: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by the Student Loans Company in the last year for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson: Employees of the Student Loans Company are not classed as civil servants. The table below confirms the number of Student Loans Company employees based at each of the Company’s locations at 31 March 2016.LocationNo. of employees (Headcount)Darlington1,413Glasgow City Centre1,302Glasgow Hillington75Home based5Llandudno Junction125Total2,920

Institute for Apprenticeships

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, where he plans to locate the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: The location of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be determined in due course.

Digital Technology: Training

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16350, whether (a) professional and vocational training and (b) other alternative forms of digital skills development will be supported by the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles: Employers will be free to spend their money on apprenticeship training which they judge best meets their needs. This could be on approved in-house apprenticeship training, or apprenticeship training offered by another registered provider of their choice. We want to give employers in England flexibility on how they use levy funds without introducing additional and unintended complexity into the system. Apprenticeships are available in a wide range of sectors and at all levels including degree level. There are new apprenticeship standards in digital industries occupations such as Network Engineer, Software Developer, and Digital & Technology Solutions Professional (degree apprenticeship).

Digital Technology: Training

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 16367, whether initiatives offering pre-16 training in digital skills to school children before they enter the workforce will be supported by the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles: The levy will support apprenticeship training to help employers to deliver 3 million starts on high quality apprenticeships. All apprenticeships must be paid jobs with on- and off-the-job training lasting at least a year that develops transferable skills and leads to full competence in an occupation. Employers can only spend levy funds on apprenticeship training delivered by an approved provider and will not be able to use the levy to pay for other types of training or work experience.

Digital Technology: Training

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 16367, whether graduate schemes and internships will be supported by the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles: The levy will support apprenticeships at all levels, including degree level (Bachelors’ or Masters) apprenticeships. All apprenticeships must be paid jobs with on- and off-the-job training lasting at least a year.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the UK aid budget was allocated as (a) grants and (b) loans in 2014-15.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the UK aid budget was allocated as (a) grants and (b) loans in 2015-16.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the UK aid budget was allocated as (a) grants and (b) loans in 2013-14.

Mr Nick Hurd: UK aid spending figures are reported on a calendar year basis in Statistics on International Development[1]. The information requested is available for 2013 and 2014 as shown in Table 1 below. Figures for 2015 with the requested breakdown will be available and published in Statistics on International Development in October 2016[2]. Table 1: UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) by type of finance, 2013-2014  20132014 £m% of total ODA£m% of total ODATotal UK ODA11,424100.0%11,726100.0%of which:Grants8,99878.8%9,84780.9%Capital subscriptions22,29820.1%1,79915.3%Loans 390.0%3432.9%Other41201.1%980.8%1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding2. Capital subscriptions to multilateral organisations,3. Includes bilateral loans to recipient countries and loans to multilateral organisations4. Other types of ODA eligible finance include interest subsidies, equity acquisitions and debt relief. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-2015[2] Once released the publication will be available on the Statistics at DFID webpage

Overseas Aid

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of the projects to which UK aid contributes abroad and of the long-term effect those projects have on the UK.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Department for International Development’s communications demonstrate how UK aid reduces extreme poverty, tackles global challenges and is in Britain’s national interest.  We raise awareness of our work and its results in a number of different ways. A recent example is the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in February. Through extensive work with the media and partners, we helped the public at home and abroad to understand why the conference was needed, how the money raised will make a difference, and how they can get involved. The public had more than 222m opportunities to see or hear about the conference; media coverage of the conference was extensive and overwhelmingly positive. We are continuing to communicate the longer-term impact of the conference and explain why supporting people in the region is in the UK’s interest. Another example is our recent work to mark International Women’s Day. This positioned the UK as a world leader on securing rights for girls and women. Ministers attended eight public events to mark the day and spoke about DFID’s work on girls and women. The public had 252m opportunities to see or hear about our activity through the media, and a further 1.5m people were reached through digital activity. DFID has a strong following online and provides regular updates about its work and achievements through: Twitter (www.twitter.com/dfid_uk), Facebook (www.facebook.com/ukdfid) and Dev Tracker (devtracker.dfid.gov.uk).

Department for International Development: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Mr Nick Hurd: 1144 employees have left DFID. Resignations for each of the last 6 years have been set out in the table below: FY 2010/11FY 2011/12FY 2012/13FY 2013/14FY 2014/15FY 2015/16Resignation 665664656573

Overseas Aid

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many UK-based consultancy firms receive funding from her Department.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Detail on all DFID supplier funding is available via our departmental website.

Anti-corruption Summit

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the UK Anti-Corruption Summit being held in London in May 2016.

Mr Desmond Swayne: In addition to regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues in relation to the Summit, DFID is represented in the Inter-Ministerial Group on Anti-Corruption. This Group is tasked with overseeing the government’s work to tackle corruption domestically and internationally, and specifically at this time the planning for the Summit and implementation of its conclusions.

Overseas Aid

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether funding for UK-based consultancy firms is included in the UK's 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product overseas development assistance target.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Consultancy funding for UK-based firms is included in the UK’s 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product overseas development assistance target.

Anti-corruption Summit

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what preparations her Department has made for the UK Anti-Corruption Summit to be held in London in May 2016.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is determined to make the Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016 a success. This requires concerted action by a large number of interested parties. DFID is working closely with other Government Departments and a wide range of domestic and international partners, including civil society and business, to work together to deliver a successful summit.

Adam Smith Institute

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many meetings she had with the Adam Smith Institute between 1 October 2012 and 31 March 2016.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Meetings with DFID Ministers are published on a regular basis at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/dfid-sos-gifts-travel-hospitality-meetings-may-july-2010

Department for Education

Schools: Admissions

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to the hon. Member for St Albans to Question 30489, on schools: admissions, if she will commission research on the effect on additional school places of inward migration from (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries.

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to the hon. Member for St Albans to Question 30489, on schools: admissions, if she will estimate the number of those new school places which are needed up to 2021 due to immigration from (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries.

Edward Timpson: As set out in the written response to PQ 30489, supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places remains one of this Government’s top priorities. The basic need capital funding we allocate to local authorities to create new school places is based on their own data on school capacity and future pupil forecasts. Any increase in need for places should be reflected in the local authority’s final basic need allocation. We allocate basic need funding three years ahead to give local authorities time to plan and deliver the new places needed in their area.The Government has committed to investing £7 billion in new school places up to 2021, which, when added to our investment in the free schools programme, will help to create 600,000 new places.Beyond the information already provided to the Department by local authorities, we do not plan to commission further research on the effect of inward migration on the need for school places.

Academies: Admissions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31889, whether local authorities can instruct academy schools to admit children to meet their legal obligation; and whether it is her policy that local authorities will be able to instruct academy schools to admit children to meet their legal obligation under the proposed fully academised system.

Nick Gibb: Academy schools are their own admission authorities as are maintained voluntary aided and foundation schools. Such schools set their own admission policies and can only change them after consulting local people. Local authorities (LAs) can object to the Schools Adjudicator about an admission policy or a reduction in an admission number but cannot determine how many pupils such schools must admit.LAs are able to launch a competition for a new free school and, in certain circumstances, place children through the local fair access protocol or, where a school does not agree to admit a child, seek to direct admission.All state-funded schools are required to participate in the local in-year fair access protocol. Protocols allocate places to children who are unplaced by the start of the school year. Legislation also provides local authorities with powers to seek to direct the admission of children to maintained schools for which they are not the admission authority. Academy funding agreements contain similar direction powers.Directions can be sought when there is no other school place within a reasonable distance or where a looked after child has been refused a place.The Schools Adjudicator decides directions for maintained schools while the Education Funding Agency decides directions for academies on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Fire Stations: Greater London

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether VAT was charged on the purchase of Kingsland Fire Station from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

Edward Timpson: VAT was not charged on the purchase of Kingsland Fire Station, 333 Kingsland Road, London, E8 4DR when it was purchased in October 2015. The site was not VAT elected.

Schools: Registration

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) take action against unregistered schools.

Edward Timpson: We have been working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to identify unregistered schools, and the Chief Inspector has powers to make unannounced visits to any institution that he suspects is operating unlawfully as an independent school. We have also given Ofsted additional resources so that they can go out to locate and investigate unregistered schools and draw up a programme for inspecting them to collect evidence to support prosecutions.Institutions that are suspected of operating as unregistered schools receive a very clear warning from the Department that it is a criminal offence and that they must cease operating immediately.To raise awareness, we have published two statements setting how we regulate and intervene in independent schools and details of when we will take legal action against unregistered schools.The statements were announced by the Secretary of State on 19 January 2016, as part of a package to protect children from extremism. The announcement, the press release and the statements are available on GOV.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nicky-morgan-speaks-about-tackling-extremism;https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-drive-to-protect-children-from-spell-of-twisted-ideologies; andhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulating-independent-schools

Schools: Dartford

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children in Dartford were taught in schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted in Dartford for each year between 2005 and 2015.

Nick Gibb: Data provided in the table below include children attending all open primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, nurseries and pupil referral units in Dartford parliamentary constituency as at 31 August each year, for which data is available. Data for any years prior to 2009 is not available.Number of children attending schools in Dartford rated as good or outstanding, 2009 to 2015Ofsted school inspections as at 31 AugustNumber of pupils attending schools rated as good or outstanding[1]Total number of pupilsPercentage of pupils attending schools rated as good or outstanding20098,57313,54963%20108,78615,83455%20119,17716,43956%20128,81615,63756%201313,46518,06075%201415,40217,85186%201515,90817,85889%Source: Ofsted School Inspection data[1] Data is based on the most recent section 5 (including section 8 deemed 5) Ofsted inspection of all open schools (primary, secondary, special, nursery and pupil referral units) as at 31 August from 2009 to 2015

Schools: Dartford

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to increase the numbers of primary and secondary school places in Dartford.

Edward Timpson: Supporting local authorities to ensure sufficient school places in their area is one of this Government’s top priorities. That’s why we’ve committed to investing £7 billion in new school places up to 2021, which along with our investment in the free schools programme we expect to deliver 600,000 new places.Kent County Council, which is responsible for school places in Dartford, received £115 million in basic need funding between 2011 and 2015, helping to create nearly 17,000 new places between 2010 and 2015. Of these, around 8,700 were primary places and around 8,200 were secondary. Kent has also been allocated £144 million to create the additional places required by September 2019.

Pre-school Education: Kent

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of places available in local authority maintained nurseries in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare and early education places, and make this report available and accessible to parents. The Department does not hold borough-level estimates centrally of the number of places in local authority maintained nursery schools. However, the number of pupils attending local authority maintained nurseries can be found in the statistical first release and underlying data published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015The Local authority and regional tables: SFR16/2015 (Table 7b)[1] indicates that 90 pupils were registered as attending local authority maintained nursery schools in Kent in 2015.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445755/SFR16_2015_LA_tables.xlsx

Schools: Dartford

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Dartford are educated in (a) local authority schools and (b) academies.

Nick Gibb: The number of pupils attending local authority schools and academies in the Dartford constituency as at January 2015 is given in the table below:-All SchoolsState-funded primaryState-funded secondaryState-funded special schoolPupil referral unitAcademies in Dartford Academy Converter5,8702,8163,054--Academy Special Converter269--269-Academy Sponsor Led4,7678083,959--University Technical College129-129--Academies Total11,0353,6247,142269-  Local Authority schools in Dartford Community School5,0784,345733--Foundation School1,077-1,077--Foundation Special School104--104-Pupil Referral Unit11---11Voluntary Aided School-----Voluntary Controlled School-846---All Local Authority Maintained Schools6,2705,1911,81010411Further data is available in the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2015’[1] statistics.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015. Data is contained within the ‘Underlying data’ section within a file named ‘SFR16_2015_Schools_Pupils_UD’, and can be aggregated to the required level using the type of establishment, headcount of pupils and parliamentary constituency name fields.

Teachers: Recruitment

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many graduate teachers in each subject area were recruited in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is available in Table 1c of the Main tables: SFR46/2015 spreadsheet available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2015-to-2016This table includes the number of postgraduates recruited to Initial Teacher Training in each subject from the academic years 2011/12 to 2015/16. The Department does not hold data for the academic year 2010/11.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will make it its policy to allocate revenue raised from the soft drinks industry levy to maintain the grant for summer schools.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government has no plans to use the soft drink levy to maintain the grant for pupil premium summer schools. The 2016 budget statement identified that the soft drinks industry levy would be used to double the amount of funding to £320m per annum that we dedicate to sport in every primary school and to make it easier for up to a quarter of secondary schools to extend their school day to include a wider range of activities, including extra sport.The Government has protected the pupil premium at current per pupil rates for the rest of the Parliament, providing schools with around £2.5 billion per year of additional funding to support their disadvantaged pupils. Schools have the choice to continue running summer schools and can use their pupil premium allocation to fund places for their disadvantaged pupils.

Free School Meals

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools have been found to have failed to keep records of eligibility for free school meals in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Education Funding Agency (EFA) undertakes academy trust funding audit visits as part of its assurance regime, which includes free school meals. It has found the following instances where full records have not been kept:Assurance plan yearTotal trusts where instances of pupil ineligibility were identified1 July 2015 – presentCurrently underway, therefore no information1 July 2014 – 30 June 201501 July 2013 – 30 June 20149In addition we have received one instance where we have confirmed ineligibility of funding and are taking swift action to resolve issues.

Free Schools

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to assess the value for money of each free school's capital budget.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the value for money of (a) community schools other than academies and (b) free schools.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the per pupil value for money of free schools and the effect acquisition of sites (a) in London and (b) outside London has on that value for money.

Edward Timpson: Since 2010, we have opened around 400 new free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools. These schools offer excellent value for money. They are being built significantly quicker and cheaper than previous school building programmes. The National Audit Office found in its report in 2013 that free schools were built 45% cheaper than other school building programmes. Almost 200,000 new places will be provided. 25% of the free schools inspected by Ofsted have been judged outstanding compared to 20% of all other schools. We plan to open at least 500 new schools during this Parliament. We monitor the programme’s costs to ensure it continues to offer excellent value. A value for money assessment is made prior to a free school application being approved for the pre-opening stage and again before a capital budget is approved. We consider all aspects of the project, including the size of the school and the location of the site. Sites in London tend to cost more to acquire and this is taken into account when considering the value for money offered by London projects.

Free Schools

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional school places have been created by free schools that (a) have been provided between February 2014 to date and (b) are projected to be provided in 2016-17.

Edward Timpson: Since February 2014, 133 free schools have opened (2 in 2013/14, 79 in 2014/15 and 52 in 2015/16 academic years), creating over 71,000 new school places once at capacity. In academic year 2016/17 we expect to create over 20,000 new school places at capacity.

Free Schools

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil vacancies there are in free schools in (a) London, (b) Yorkshire and (c) England; and what proportion of the free schools that opened in each year since 2012 have vacancies.

Edward Timpson: Information is not currently collected on vacancies in schools. Information on numbers of pupils on roll and planned admission numbers in schools can be combined to estimate how many unfilled places exist in free schools.In October 2015 there were (a) 2,088 unfilled places (13%) in mainstream free schools in London, (b) 189 unfilled places (7%) in mainstream free schools in Yorkshire and the Humber, and (c) 7,674 unfilled places (15%) in mainstream free schools in England[1]. 79% of mainstream free schools that opened since 2012 had one or more unfilled places which is the same proportion as for all mainstream state funded schools at May 2015[2].These figures are based on pupils in reception to year 11 in mainstream free schools and will include schools which had only recently opened.[1] Figures are based on (a) total number of pupils on roll across years Reception to year 11 from October 2015 and (b) total planned admission numbers across these year groups. It excludes year groups which are not yet populated. Figures exclude 16-19, Special and AP free schools. Some free schools build up their capacity in year groups gradually, so for example they may open with one class of 30 in Reception in year 1, and in year 2 expand to have two classes of 30 in Reception. This means that the current capacity in a free school in Reception, for example, may not be the eventual capacity once the school is at full capacity.[2] See School capacity: academic year 2014 to 2015 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2014-to-2015

Free Schools: Class Sizes

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size is in existing free schools.

Edward Timpson: Data on the size of classes for free schools can be obtained from the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2015’ statistics available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015Class sizes for free schools can be calculated using the spreadsheet.

Schools: Admissions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on ensuring that co-ordinated school place planning is retained in the event of all state schools becoming academies.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities (LAs) have a legal obligation to ensure that there are sufficient local schools to provide a primary and secondary place for all children needing one. Supporting LAs to do this continues to be one of the Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021, which, alongside investment in the free schools programme, we expect to create 600,000 new places. This is on top of the £5 billion the Coalition Government spent between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create 600,000 additional places between 2010 and 2015.LAs have always relied on their strong relationships with local schools to deliver the places needed and this will remain the case in a fully academised system. For example, many local authorities are recognising the opportunity that the free schools programme provides and are encouraging new and existing high quality education providers to apply to set up a new school in their area. We encourage all local authorities to do likewise.

Schools: Admissions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from local authorities about overprovision of school places in areas where a free school or schools are (a) established or (b) proposed.

Edward Timpson: Regional Schools Commissioners hold regular meetings with local authorities to determine where there is a need for additional school places that could be met through establishing a free school. In addition, the department seeks local authorities’ comments on each new application for a free school and, for applications approved into the pre-opening stage, we seek their views as part of our statutory duty under section 9 of the Academies Act 2010 to assess the impact of establishing a new school on existing schools and colleges.

Free Schools

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many vacancies were identified in free schools in the school census in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015 and (e) 2016.

Edward Timpson: The school census does not collect information on vacancies in schools.

Free Schools

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any consented free school applications were withdrawn between February 2014 and April 2016 by the (a) proposers in the community or (b) proposed provider; and what the cost of such applications has been to the public purse.

Edward Timpson: Ten projects were withdrawn from the pre-opening phase by their proposers between February 2014 and April 2016.The total pre- and post-opening revenue expenditure for free school projects that opened or were withdrawn or cancelled in 2011 to 2013 is published on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schoolsWe plan to publish updated revenue expenditure for free schools that were open or withdrawn in 2014 and 2015 in the coming weeks. This data will be updated annually each autumn.The capital costs of all free school projects, including any costs incurred on projects that have withdrawn, are included in the Department for Education’s annual accounts. The next set of accounts is due to be published shortly at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports

Free Schools: Performance Standards

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with HM Chief Inspector of Schools about the performance of free schools.

Edward Timpson: The Secretary of State meets with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools regularly to discuss a wide range of issues including the performance of free schools.

Schools: Calderdale

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of (a) primary and (b) secondary school places in Calderdale.

Edward Timpson: Supporting local authorities to ensure sufficient school places in their area is one of this Government’s top priorities. That’s why we’ve committed to investing £7 billion in new school places up to 2021, which along with our investment in the free schools programme we expect to deliver 600,000 new places. This is on top of the £5 billion the Coalition Government spent between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create 600,000 additional places between 2010 and 2015.Calderdale received £8.8 million in basic need funding between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create nearly 2,000 new places between 2010 and 2015. Of these, around 960 were primary places and around 1,010 were secondary. Calderdale has also been allocated £17.6 million to create the places required by September 2019.

Children: Day Care

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the free childcare pilot scheme budget will be ring-fenced from September 2016.

Mr Sam Gyimah: As you may be aware, the Government has allocated £13m to DfE for early implementation, allowing some families to access the additional 15 hour places from September 2016. The Department plans to ring-fence this funding available for early implementers.

Schools: Standards

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that Ofsted is able to assess the effectiveness of schools under proposals for all schools to become academies.

Nick Gibb: Academies are already subject to inspection by Ofsted under the same framework that applies to maintained schools. The White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, sets out the intention that the Department will also publish new performance tables to show how well multi-academy trusts are leading their schools. This will be in addition to school-level inspection results and performance data. The White Paper is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere

Vocational Guidance

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to introduce independent and impartial advice from qualified professionals into careers advice and guidance.

Mr Sam Gyimah: All maintained schools have a legal duty to secure access to independent careers guidance for year 8-13 pupils. Guidance secured under the duty must be delivered in an impartial manner.The duty gives schools the flexibility to commission a broad range of support for pupils – from careers advisers but also from employers, mentors and coaches, who can give young people real-life insight into the world of work. This allows schools to identify their own priorities and configure their careers education and guidance offer to meet the needs of their pupils. The Careers & Enterprise Company is taking a lead role in transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people to inspire them and prepare them for the world of work.Careers professionals can play an important role in supporting pupils as one element of a varied careers programme. The careers statutory guidance is clear that schools should include consideration of the role that careers professionals can play in supporting pupils. The statutory guidance provides information about the register of careers professionals, developed by the Career Development Institute, which schools can use to search for a career development professional who can deliver a particular service or activity.Ofsted has given higher priority to careers guidance in school inspections - and destination measures help schools and colleges to be held to account locally and inform choices by parents and students.

Academies

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements are placed on the building of new academies to demonstrate (a) local need and (b) parental demand.

Edward Timpson: When applying to set up a new mainstream or 16-19 free school, applicants must demonstrate that there is a need for the school. They could do this by showing that there is either a projected shortage of school places in the relevant phase in the area where the school is proposed; a need for more high quality school places; or a need for greater local choice and diversity.Applicants applying to set up special or alternative provision free schools must demonstrate that they have a commitment from commissioners that they will purchase places at the free school.In relation to demand, all applicants must demonstrate that the proposed school will be popular and fill to capacity. To do this, applicants must provide evidence that they have effectively marketed the school to a cross-section of the local community and parents.The department publishes guidance for applicants on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/opening-a-free-school

Academies: Pay

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce guidance to link the salaries of CEO's of multi-academy trusts to the performance of schools within that trust.

Edward Timpson: As our White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, sets out, we will publish some ‘design principles’ outlining how successful multi-academy trusts (MATs) have been established and grown, as well as the basis on which Regional Schools Commissioners will approve new MATs. The White Paper also sets out our intention to launch new accountability measures for MATs and publish new performance tables to show how well MATs are leading their schools, in addition to individual school-level inspection results and performance data. Academy trusts are free to run their organisations as they see fit to improve educational outcomes. Securing good leadership is central to this and it is for academy trusts to decide how to employ and reward staff. Academy trusts operate under a robust accountability system which holds them to account for the results they achieve and their use of resources. This includes a requirement to publish audited accounts each year with details of the salaries of school leaders, allowing the wider public the chance to hold academy trusts to account to help ensure that funds are spent on improving pupil outcomes.

Headteachers: Pay

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools have been found to have paid the head teacher at such schools more than the publicly disclosed salary in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Headteachers: Pay

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many LEA schools have been found to have paid the head teacher at such schools more than the publicly disclosed salary in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities are responsible for the oversight of the schools they maintain and carry out their own programmes of financial monitoring.

Academies: Finance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on where a school's deficit would be transferred at the point of its conversion to an academy.

Edward Timpson: Deficits for schools which convert to become sponsored academies remain with the local authority. These deficits remain with their local authority as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily. Deficits for voluntary converter academies will normally transfer with the school.Further information can be found in the Department’s guidance: “Treatment of surplus and deficit balances when maintained schools become academies” which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416430/School_balances_on_conversion_submission.pdf

ICT: Curriculum

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the present amount of Continued Professional Development funding for training teachers in the new computing curriculum will be maintained for future academic years.

Nick Gibb: Over the last three years, the Department has spent more than £4.5 million to support the implementation of the new curriculum and is committed to support the high quality teaching of computing. This includes £3m to establish the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science, building a national network of over 300 ‘Master Teachers’ whom schools can commission to provide training for their teachers; £1m for Computing at School (CAS) to meet the needs of primary schools teachers who lacked the specialist computer science subject knowledge required to teach the new curriculum; and a £500,000 competitive match-funded scheme that has supported innovative approaches to promoting excellent computing teaching and lever additional investment and engagement from business.

Academies: Governing Bodies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.30 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, when she plans to amend the academy articles of association models to remove the requirement for new academy trusts  and school governing boards to elect parent governors; and if she will take steps to enable existing academies to make that change.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Academies: Directors

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, if she will issue guidance on levels of remuneration for non-executive academy trust directors.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Governing Bodies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, what powers she has to require local authority maintained schools to provide details of everyone involved in governance for a new database; and when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to bar unsuitable individuals from being governors of maintained schools.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Students: Transport

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department last reviewed its statutory guidance on post-16 transport to education and training.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Academies: Governing Bodies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.28 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, when she plans to amend the model articles of government of academies to require each school in a multi-academy trust to have a school level governing body; and whether she plans that those model articles will set out the role of school level governing bodies to focus on understanding and championing the needs of pupils, parents and the wider local community.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Teachers: Vacancies

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teacher vacancies there have been in (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in England in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 18 April 2016



The information requested is published in the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2014’ in Table 14 of the Main Tables, available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

Teachers: Vacancies

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teacher vacancies there were in schools in (a) Halton, (b) Merseyside and (c) Cheshire on 31 March 2016.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the number of full-time teacher vacancies in state funded schools in (a) Halton, (b) Merseyside, and (c) Cheshire in November 2014, the latest information available[1]. November 2015 data will be available at the end of June. Number of Full-Time Vacant PostsHalton0Merseyside12Cheshire[2]6Source: School Workforce Census[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014[2] Includes Halton, Warrington, Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester.

Pupil Exclusions: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were excluded from academy schools in Halton in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Home Office

EEA Nationals: Latvia

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether holders of Latvian non-citizen status are considered to be EEA nationals for the purposes of immigration policy.

James Brokenshire: Holders of Latvian non-citizen status are not considered to be European Economic Area (EEA) nationals for the purposes of immigration policy.

Asylum

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are currently awaiting the results of asylum (a) claims and (b) appeals.

James Brokenshire: Data on the number of outstanding decisions and cases awaiting appeal is published as part of the Government’s Transparency Agenda. Further information can be found via the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-february-2016As of the end of December 2015 there were 18,060 cases awaiting an initial decision with 10,193 cases having lodged an appeal and awaiting either a first hearing or further appeal hearing dates.We aim to decide all straightforward asylum claims within 6 months, however there will be some claims which are complex. We aim to decide these cases within 12 months.This data relates to asylum claims submitted post October 2006 and includes asylum cases which are still awaiting the results of their asylum claim, where no initial decision has been made. It also includes asylum cases awaiting the results of their asylum appeal, where the claimant has lodged a first appeal and it has not been heard, as well as cases where the claimant has lodged an appeal and it has not been decided. Therefore these asylum cases have not exhausted their appeal rights.

Asylum

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of the assisted voluntary return scheme was in each year since 2004.

James Brokenshire: Up until January 1st 2016 the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) scheme has been outsourced but is now part of the Home Office Voluntary Return Service (VRS).The cost of the outsourced scheme in the years 2006 to 2015 is set out below. Data for 2004 to 2006 is incomplete and has therefore been omitted.Years£m2006-722.22007-821.72008-0910.802009-1020.402010-1117.302011-127.502012-138.772013-148.842014/1510.86

Immigration Controls: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2016 to Question 31313, on immigration controls: EU nationals, whether any of the people refused entry have subsequently been permitted to enter the UK.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held centrally.

Deportation: EEA Nationals

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31330, on deportation: EU nationals, how many EEA foreign national offenders deported have subsequently re-entered the UK in each year since 2006.

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31475, on deportation: EU nationals, how many EEA foreign national offenders deported on the basis of a criminal conviction have subsequently re-entered the UK in each year since 2011-12.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held centrally.

Immigration Controls: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2016 to Question 31313, on immigration controls: EU nationals, what monitoring is in place to prevent people refused entry from entering the UK.

James Brokenshire: The UK operates a secure border which involves carrying out 100% checks on arriving passengers from Continental Europe in order to identify people of concern seeking to enter the country. All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watchlists and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can – and do - refuse them entry. Checks are also carried out against the vast majority of passengers before they arrive in the UK and, where we can, we stop them from travelling in the first place.

Visas: China

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average cost to the public purse was of processing a UK visitor visa through centres in China in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: These costs are not broken down to show costs by location.

Visas: China

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK visitor visas were issued in China in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

James Brokenshire: The available information relates to Chinese nationals and is provided in the table below.UK Entry clearance visitor visas granted: Chinese nationals(including dependants)  2012: 210,344 2013: 291,826 2014: 327,349 2015: 397,764 NotesThe figures above represent entry clearance visitor visas issued worldwide to Chinese nationals, not visas issued in China.Source: Table vi_06_q_o, Immigration Statistics, October to December 2015The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visitor visas granted are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, October-December 2015’, Visas volume 3 table vi_06_q_o available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015/list-of-tables#visas

Immigrants: English Language

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on reconsidering the cases of people who had their leave to remain wrongly cancelled, or who were wrongly detained or removed, on the basis of allegations of fraud in English language tests made by ETS in response to the Upper Tribunal ruling in Qadir v Secretary of State, 23 March 2016.

James Brokenshire: We received the determination in the case of Qadir and SM from Upper Tribunal on 8 April which provides the full reasons for the decision which were not included in the summary handed down on 23 March. Although the Upper Tribunal found that the Home Office did discharge the evidential burden on it in establishing fraud at ETS test centres and that each appellant would need to establish an innocent explanation, it went on to allow the appeals. We are disappointed by the decision and we are currently reviewing it with a view to challenging before the Court Of Appeal. Given this there are no current plans to reconsider earlier decisions.

Immigration Controls: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals of non-EU member states have been refused entry to the UK in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire: The table below provides the total number of nationals of non-EU member states that have been initially refused entry to the UK in each of the last 10 years. Non- EU passengers initially refused entry to the UK, 2006 to 2015 YearTotal refusals200629,436200727,420200826,037200922,055201018,478201116,615201214,855201315,272201416,283201515,351Notes: 1) Passengers initially refused entry relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry.2) Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January 2007.3) Croatia joined the EU on 1July 2013.Figures for 2014 and 2015 are provisional. The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of passengers initially refused entry by country of nationality within Immigration Statistics. The data are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October to December 2015, table ad.04 from GOV.UK on the statistics web pages at:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

Immigration: Appeals

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will grant the Brain family residing in Dingwell, Scotland leave to appeal the decision to deport them from the UK whilst remaining domiciled in the UK; and if she will take steps to permit members of that family to maintain their employment until that appeal has been decided.

James Brokenshire: We do not routinely comment publicly on individual immigration cases and have written to the Honourable Member on 12 April 2016.

Vetting

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces take longest to process applications from the Disclosure and Barring Service; and what the average processing time for such application is for each police force in England.

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on priority categories in Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Karen Bradley: The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) processes applications in date order and is reliant on the police completing their checks in a timely manner. In very exceptional cases, where it is apparent that a delay is likely to cause undue hardship to an applicant, the DBS will do all it can to expedite the process by raising an escalation with the relevant police force.The table below shows the average time spent by each police force in England to process disclosure applications between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016.Force NameAverage Days Taken By ForceAvon And Somerset7.4Bedfordshire3.5Cambridgeshire10.9Cheshire10.7City of London9.0Cleveland8.6Cumbria13.8Derbyshire14.8Devon And Cornwall4.7Dorset76.6Durham15.3Essex16.2Gloucester11.1Greater Manchester12.8Hampshire11.4Hertfordshire10.5Humberside9.8Kent18.5Lancashire5.0Leicestershire7.7Lincolnshire9.2Merseyside8.2Metropolitan85.2Norfolk1.6North Yorkshire17.9Northamptonshire17.1Northumbria13.9Nottinghamshire10.9South Yorkshire21.7Staffordshire10.7Suffolk8.8Surrey13.1Sussex17.5Thames Valley60.3Warwickshire7.2West Mercia9.3West Midlands21.2West Yorkshire12.3Wiltshire4.8

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Fines

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of fines issued to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 has been in each year since 2005.

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many appeals against fines to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 there have been in each year since 2005.

James Brokenshire: The value of fines issued to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since 2005 is as follows:01/04/2005-31/03/2006 £1,105,10301/04/2006-31/03/2007 £1,898,86601/04/2007-31/03/2008 £1,946,70501/04/2008-31/03/2009 £2,552,49001/04/2009-31/03/2010 £2,609,73701/04/2010-31/03/2011 £1,083,39001/04/2011-31/03/2012 £931,61801/04/2012-31/03/2013 £890,54401/04/2013-31/03/2014 £4,070,47101/04/2014-31/03/2015 £6,490,23201/04/2015-31/03/2016 £5,249,894This information is from management information reports. The data held on the Civil Penalty data base does not allow the penalty amounts to be separated between driver’s and hauliers, hence the data provided is the total number of penalties imposed for the period.The number of appeals against fines to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since 2005 is as follows:01/04/2005-31/03/2006 701/04/2006-31/03/2007 801/04/2007-31/03/2008 1201/04/2008-31/03/2009 1301/04/2009-31/03/2010 901/04/2010-31/03/2011 1001/04/2011-31/03/2012 1101/04/2012-31/03/2013 0 * 01/04/2013-31/03/2014 2401/04/2014-31/03/2015 6401/04/2015-31/03/2016 36 *High Court appeal cases, all appeals were held behind at the time until resolved. Appeals then fell into subsequent years.This information is from management information reports.

Asylum: Middle East

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Equality (Language Analysis - Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti Testing) Authorisation (No. 2) 2013, whether the Government plans to revise the existing three exceptions.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of language analysis testing of asylum applicants; and if she will carry out a review of her Department's policy on such testing.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Equality (Language Analysis - Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti Testing) Authorisation (No. 2) 2013, whether any further nationalities have been added to the list of exceptions.

James Brokenshire: The Government has no current plans to revise the existing Equality Act exemptions relating to language analysis testing.No further nationalities have been added to the Equality Act exemption authorisation since it was introduced in 2013.A review on language analysis use was undertaken in 2011 and published in 2012.(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257177/language-analysis.pdf).No further such review is presently planned. However, we do monitor the use of language analysis regularly to ensure it is used as effectively as possible and to identify new trends in nationality swapping.

Entry Clearances: EEA Nationals

Mr Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EEA family permits were issued overseas in each of the last five calendar  years.

James Brokenshire: The requested information is given in the table below:Entry clearance visa grants: EEA Family PermitsYearGranted201119,885201219,238201322,893201424,985201530,309  Source: Immigration Statistics Oct-Dec 2015, Home Office, tables vi_06_q_o.The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas issued outside the UK, including EEA Family permits are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, October-December 2015’, Visas volume 3 table vi_06_q_o, latest edition available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015/list-of-tables#visas

New Businesses: Visas

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the financial requirements for tier 1 Entrepreneur visas.

James Brokenshire: In March 2015, the Government commissioned the Independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the economic benefit of the UK’s provisions for non-EEA entrepreneurs. The MAC made a number of recommendations for reform of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route. On financial requirements they recommended that:• the Government consider setting the lower investment threshold in the range of £40,000 to £50,000; and• the higher investment threshold of £200,000 should apply to each applicant (currently, two applicants can share the funding i.e. £100,000 each), and that there may be a case for an inflationary uplift.The Government is currently considering the MAC’s advice, and will announce its response in due course.

Home Office: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Karen Bradley: The number and proportion of officials who have resigned from the Home Office in each of the last 6 years is shown in the attached table.



Home Deparment resignations
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.35 KB)

Immigration Controls: Foreign Nationals

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU citizens were refused entry to the UK on grounds of public security in each calendar year between 2010 and 2015.

James Brokenshire: Numbers of non-EEA refusals according to refusal reasons are not held centrally. Overall non-EEA refusal figures between 2004 and December 2015 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015/list-of-tables#admissions

Asylum

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the number of people removed from the UK under (a) the assisted voluntary return scheme and (b) enforced removals.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office works across government and beyond to reduce the size of the illegal population by ensuring that there is a consequence for every individual and organisation that is benefiting from immigration abuse. That includes ensuring that people who have no right to be here leave the UK, voluntarily or through an enforced return.The support available under the assisted voluntary return scheme is now integrated into the Home Office Voluntary Returns Service where a range of help and support is available to those here illegally who are seeking to return.Creating the single service as a clear point of contact for those seeking to return, working with key voluntary sector stakeholders, local authorities, increasing the work we do directly with community and faith groups and improving our understanding of the best ways to reach out to those here illegally - are all key parts of the work the Home Office is doing to help people return home.Encouraging voluntary returns allows us to focus our detention and enforcement resource on criminal cases and those that represent the biggest threat. Where someone refuses to leave the UK voluntarily we will take steps to enforce their swift removal and prevent them returning for up to 10 years.In terms of enforced removals the 2014 Immigration Act reformed the deportation process. More than 3,200 foreign national offenders have been removed under the new deport first, appeal later powers since they came into force in July 2014, with many more going through the system.We are also using biometrics to match identities and speed up the process of gaining emergency travel documents.

Refugees: Turkey

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the effect of the EU-Turkey refugee deal on her Department's policy on family reunification for refugees.

James Brokenshire: The EU-Turkey deal does not affect our family reunion policy.Under the family reunion policy a spouse, partner or children under 18 can apply to join someone granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK providing they formed part of their family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin.

Entry Clearances: Syria

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision exists for the Syrian spouses of British nationals to come to the UK to join their families.

James Brokenshire: There are several refugee schemes in operation under which a Syrian national may be able to qualify to come to the UK, including the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and Mandate - which resettles those recognised as refugees and judged to be in need of resettlement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and who have a close family member in the UK who is willing to support them.In addition, a Syrian national can apply to join their British citizen spouse or partner in the UK under the Family Immigration Rules. If the requirements of the rules are not met, the entry clearance officer will consider whether there are exceptional or compassionate circumstances which may warrant a grant of entry clearance outside the rules.

British Nationals Abroad: Syria

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of British nationals with Syrian spouses still residing in Syria.

James Brokenshire: We have made no estimate of the number of British citizens with a Syrian spouse or partner residing in Syria. In 2015, 88 settlement visas were granted to the Syrian spouse or partner of a British citizen or person settled in the UK.

Dublin Convention

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the minutes of the negotiations on the 1990 Dublin Convention which took place between 1987 and 1990.

James Brokenshire: The Government has no immediate plans to publish the minutes of the negotiations on the 1990 Dublin Convention which took place between 1987 and 1990. Any surviving papers relating to negotiations will be contained in files relating to the Convention and these will be considered for selection and transfer to The National Archives in line with the 1958 Public Records Act as amended by subsequent legislation.

Khtame Nabuwwat

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the activities of the organisation Khtame Nabuwwat for the purposes of possible proscription under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr John Hayes: We keep the list of proscribed groups under regular review. We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.

Crimes of Violence: Females

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in which regions of the UK the £80 million Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund will be spent.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Government minister will be responsible for distributing the £80 million Violence Against Women and Girls Transformation Fund.

Karen Bradley: The Government is providing £80 million of dedicated funding up to 2020 to tackle violence against women and girls. This funding will provide core support for refuges and other accommodation-based services, a network of rape support centres and national helplines, and from April 2017 will also include a new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Service Transformation Fund.The VAWG Service Transformation fund will support local programmes which encourage new approaches that incorporate early intervention, establish and embed the best ways to help victims and their families, and prevent perpetrators from re-offending. Criteria for applications to the fund will support these aims. Full details of the how the fund will be administered and the criteria for applications will be published in due course.

Refugees

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to extend the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme to (a) Iraqi victims of Daesh and (b) members of the Yazidi community.

James Brokenshire: Only UNHCR registered Syrian refugees are eligible under the Syrian Resettlement Scheme, which has been expanded to resettle up to 20,000 during this Parliament. We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to seven agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme.There are no current plans to widen the Syrian Resettlement Scheme but it is operated in addition to our global resettlement schemes: Gateway and Mandate, which are not nationality specific.

Police: Equipment

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on the procurement of ASP batons.

Mike Penning: Decisions about the procurement of equipment for the police, including batons, are for chief constables and Police and Crime Commissioners locally. The Home Office supports forces working together to improve the value for money obtained from procurement by agreeing common specifications and aggregating their purchasing power. Suitably trained Border Force staff may be issued with collapsible batons. The Home Office requires Border Force to procure those batons through a Crown Commercial Service contract. The batons supplied are not the ASP brand.

Immigrants: Detainees

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much compensation her Department paid for the unlawful detention of individuals under immigration powers in each of the last three financial years; for what categories of reason compensation was so paid; and how many such payments were made for each such category of reason.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Turkey: Refugees

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with her Greek counterpart on the implementation of human rights safeguards for refugees under the EU-Turkey deal.

James Brokenshire: Ministerial discussions continue to take place at EU meetings on implementation of the EU-Turkey deal.More detailed discussions at official level are taking place with Greece on a regular basis. These are ensuring that the deal is carried out in accordance with all international and EU law including human rights safeguards.

Leader of the House

Legislation: Families

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to his oral contribution of 10 March 2016, Official Report, column 444, whether he expects primary and secondary legislation to be subject to the family test and the results published.

Chris Grayling: A Family Test was introduced by the Government in 2014 – it aims to bring a family perspective into policy making. It will ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning, both positive and negative, are recognised in the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions, and any subsequent legislation, made by Ministers. The Test is not a ‘tick box’ or ‘pass v fail’ exercise, it is about thinking carefully how new policy can support or potentially undermine family relationships. Policy is always about trade-offs but the Family Test ensures family considerations are explicitly considered and recognised when making those trade-offs. While the guidance encourages publication, there is no requirement to do so.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Drugs

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to work with the Football Association to raise awareness of doping issues at all levels of football.

David Evennett: The Football Association operates a sport-specific anti-doping education programme for players of all ages. UK Anti-Doping - the relevant Arm's Length Body of DCMS - works closely with the Football Association on this programme.

Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press Inquiry

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on part two of the Leveson Inquiry.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet completed. We‎ have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry.

Sports: Disability

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to increase the funding available for disability sports which are not currently paralympic sports.

David Evennett: Government recognises the importance of sport and physical activity to disabled people who take part at both grassroots and the elite level. Our new sport strategy, 'Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation', published in December 2015, emphasises the importance of getting people active, particularly those groups currently under-represented, including disabled people. Sport England is investing over £170 million in England to get more disabled people playing both Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports; and it will shortly publish its own strategy for England, following a wide public consultation, setting out how it intends to deliver against the government's sport strategy, including how it will promote grassroots sport and physical activity for all. Elite disability sport is funded by UK Sport whose role it is to ensure that the resources available to support Paralympic athletes are targeted to maximise medal success.

Nuisance Calls

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made on reducing the number of robocalls received by consumers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: It is unacceptable for consumers to be harassed by nuisance calls, and this Government continues to make progress tackling this issue. The latest figures from the ICO show that reported automated calls accounted for approximately 42% of total calls reported to them - a drop of 3% since the start of the year. This is thanks to tougher enforcement against organisations making automated calls. The ICO recently imposed its largest fine ever of £350,000 on Prodial Ltd for making over 46 million automated nuisance calls. This is 70 times the amount of the maximum possible penalty issued before 2010 - when fines were capped at £5,000, and average fines were considerably less.

Public Service: Databases

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what provisions there are to enable UK citizens to check whether their names and data are held on the World Check database operated by Thomson Reuters Accelus; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) confers a number of rights on individuals in respect of the processing of their personal data by UK organisations. Subject to certain exemptions, section 7 of the DPA gives individuals the right to request a copy of information which an organisation holds about them. An individual can exercise this right, commonly known as ‘subject access’, by making a written subject access request to the organisation. If an individual would like to find out what information Thomson Reuters holds about them in World-Check, they can email [emailprotected]/*  */!function(t,e,r,n,c,a,p){try{t=document.currentScript||function(){for(t=document.getElementsByTagName('script'),e=t.length;e--;)if(t[e].getAttribute('data-cfhash'))return t[e]}();if(t&&(c=t.previousSibling)){p=t.parentNode;if(a=c.getAttribute('data-cfemail')){for(e='',r='0x'+a.substr(0,2)|0,n=2;a.length-n;n+=2)e+='%'+('0'+('0x'+a.substr(n,2)^r).toString(16)).slice(-2);p.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(decodeURIComponent(e)),c)}p.removeChild(t)}}catch(u){}}()/*  */. Further information about individuals’ rights concerning the processing of their personal data by Thomson Reuters Accelus can be found on their website at: https://risk.thomsonreuters.com/world-check-privacy-statement

Public Service: Databases

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what statutory requirements apply to the operation of the World Check database operated by Thomson Reuters Accelus; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what regulatory authority is responsible for regulating the information collected and stored on the World Check database operated by Thomson Reuters Accelus; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Organisations that process personal data in the UK must register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and comply with the Data Protection Act’s (DPA) eight data protection principles. These include requiring personal data to be processed fairly and lawfully; to be accurate and up-to-date; not to be kept for longer than is necessary; and to be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subjects under the DPA. Failure to comply with the Act is an offence. Further information about these obligations can be found on the ICO’s website at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/ The Information Commissioner is the UK's independent authority responsible for administering and enforcing information rights, and provides guidance and advice to organisations on the Data Protection Act. The ICO has a number of tools at its disposal to take action against those that breach the legislation. These powers include the ability to conduct audits, serve enforcement notices and impose civil monetary penalties of up to £500,000. Further information about the Information Commissioner can be found on the ICO’s website at: www.ico.org.uk

Euro 2016: Security

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has held with football associations and police forces on ensuring security and protection for fans travelling abroad for the European Championships.

David Evennett: My Department has regular discussions with both the Home Office and the FCO on a range of matters in relation to the 2016 UEFA European Football Championships taking place in France this summer. Departments are in contact with the relevant football associations, and fans attending the tournament will be encouraged to follow the Government's official travel advice.

Digital Technology

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of growth of the digital economy in the last five years; and what assessment he has made of its contribution to GDP.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Growth in the Digital Sector (measured by GVA) between 2009 and 2014 was 26.3% (in comparison to a 20% growth of the UK Economy as a whole). According to DCMS research, the digital sector accounted for 6.9% Gross Value Added in 2010, and 7.3% in 2014.

Department for Work and Pensions

British Steel: Pension Funds

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the security of pensions invested in the British Steel pension fund.

Justin Tomlinson: The government continues to work closely with Tata on the future for the members of the British Steel pension fund. Members of defined benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK are covered by a robust framework of protection.

Universal Credit

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Lifetime ISA will be included in assessments of savings under universal credit.

Priti Patel: Further details about how the Lifetime ISA will work will be announced in the autumn. Following this the Government will confirm how it will be treated for Universal Credit purposes.

Employment and Support Allowance: Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2016 to Question 31791, on employment and support allowance: inflammatory bowel disease, how many of those claimants started receiving employment and support allowance before 2010.

Priti Patel: The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants in August 2015 with Inflammatory Bowel Disease recorded as their main disabling condition, with a claim start date prior to 2010, in England is 340 and in Wales is 30. Source: DWP 100% data.Notes:Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.The data is at August 2015, which is the latest available information.

Personal Independence Payment: Strokes

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many stroke survivors are currently in receipt of the personal independence payment.

Justin Tomlinson: The latest available data on personal independence payment claims in payment, including by detailed medical condition, are published on Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics.

Employment and Support Allowance: Strokes

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many stroke survivors are in (a) receipt of employment and support allowance and (b) the work-related activity group.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many allegations of fraudulent benefit claims have been reported by members of the public in each year since 2010; and by what means such allegations were reported.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many allegations of fraudulent benefit claims made by members of the public led to (a) benefits being stopped and (b) prosecutions in each of the  last five years.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Strokes

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in England are currently registered disabled as a result of having a stroke.

Justin Tomlinson: This information is unavailable as the department does not collect this data.

MAXIMUS Health and Human Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contractual standards have been set for Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd for the number of completed work capability assessments.

Priti Patel: Centre for Health Disability Assessments, a MAXIMUS Company, has a target of 1,170,000 completed assessments in 2016/17.

MAXIMUS Health and Human Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work capability assessments have been (a) completed and (b) cancelled by Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd in (i) total and (ii) each local authority area.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons appointments were cancelled by Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd in each local authority area in each month of that organisation's contract with his Department.

Priti Patel: Work capability assessments are delivered by Centre for Health Disability Assessments (CHDA is a MAXIMUS company). Nationally, in the quarter from January 2016 to March 2016, the number of completed assessments was 417,143 and the number of cancellations was 10,143. Information is not available by local authority area.

MAXIMUS Health and Human Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to gather the views of and comments from claimants regarding their experiences with Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd.

Priti Patel: The Department has a formal contractual requirement on CHDA to report on claimant engagement and perception of the service they receive.

Children in Care: Social Security Benefits

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many care leavers as identified through the self-identified marker used by his Department between the ages of 18 and 25 had their (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance sanctioned in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Priti Patel: The information requested in respect of care leavers is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Attendance Allowance: Motor Neurone Disease

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with motor neurone disease are currently in receipt of the (a) lower and (b) higher rate of Attendance Allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: Statistical information relating to Attendance Allowance claimants, including the numbers of people suffering from motor neurone disease, and the rate of Attendance Allowance in payment to them, is available from the DWP Tabulation Tool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

Jobcentre Plus: Armed Forces Covenant

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to jobcentre staff on the delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant.

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which of the Directors in his Department has responsibility for the Armed Forces Covenant.

Justin Tomlinson: The department takes its ongoing responsibilities under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously. Pete Searle, the Strategy Director for Working Age Benefits, is DWP’s Armed Forces Advocate responsible for ensuring that the needs of service personnel, their families and veterans are properly catered for by the Department. This means ensuring that these groups are not disadvantaged as a result of military service, and providing special treatment where appropriate.Every Jobcentre district has an “Armed Forces Champion” to provide a level of expertise for Jobcentres on Armed Forces matters. This is backed up by guidance covering the special rules that are in place, such as ex-service personnel having early access to the Work Programme, and information on any particular challenges they may face, such as the impact on employment prospects of frequent changes in locations.

State Retirement Pensions: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Scotland who reach state pension age in 2016-17 will receive less than the full flat rate of the new state pension.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of men in Scotland who reach state pension age in 2016-17 will receive the full flat rate of the new state pension.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of women in Scotland who reach state pension age in 2016-17 will receive the full flat rate of the new state pension.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Scotland who reach state pension age in 2016-17 will receive the full flat rate of the new state pension.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department cannot model the impact of the new State Pension at a regional or country specific level. Results for the whole of Great Britain can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf

Work Capability Assessment: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) longest and (b) average journey time to attend a medical assessment was for Scottish claimants of (i) employment and support allowance and (ii) personal independence payments in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson: Centre for Health Disability Assessments (for ESA assessments) and Atos Healthcare (for PIP assessments in Scotland) do not hold or retain information about customer journey times to attend assessments. Should a customer foresee a problem with travelling to their assessment they are asked to contact the appropriate provider to discuss their circumstances. DWP's requirement is that claimants do not have to travel for more than 90 minutes by public transport (single journey) for a consultation. However, this limit is an absolute maximum and for the majority of claimants their journey will be less than this. A home consultation can be offered, in particular where a claimant is unable to travel to a consultation as a result of their health condition or impairment. More specifically home visits are generally offered when the claimant provides confirmation via their own health professional that indicates that they are unable to travel on health grounds or at a claimant’s request where the assessment provider’s health professional determines this is appropriate for their health condition or disability.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment assessments for Scottish claimants there were in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson: The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) initial work capability assessments still in progress in Scotland as at the dates below were: QuarterTotal31 December 201430,70031 March 201528,80030 June 201528,20030 September 201527,500   Source: Data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by the healthcare provider. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearance levels are within expectations. The number of cases in progress in Scotland as at the dates below were: 30 April 2015 6,10031 July 2015 6,80031 October 2015 8,90031 January 2016 13,000 Source: Data taken from the PIP computer system management information

Work Capability Assessment: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were carried out by a qualified doctor in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson: All health professionals (HPs) undertaking assessments on behalf of DWP must be registered practitioners (occupational therapist, nurse, doctor, physiotherapist and paramedic) who have also met requirements around training, post-qualification experience and competence. The number and proportion of Employment and Support Allowance assessments completed in Scotland by a doctor was:April to June 2015 – 2,342 (19.4%)July to September 2015 – 2,239 (18.6%)October to December 2015 – 2,254 (18.7%)January to March 2016 – 1,969 (14.2%) Personal Independence Payment assessments in Scotland were completed by occupational therapists, nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics rather than doctors.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were successful in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Priti Patel: The information requested for Employment and Support Allowance is shown in the table below. ESA ClaimsScotlandQ1 (Apr - Jun 15)Q2 (Jul - Sep 15)Q3 (Oct - Dec 15)Q4 (Jan - Mar 16)Total processed23,40522,67822,72222,338Benefit awarded19,70819,38819,42419,130% Awarded84.2%85.5%85.5%85.6% Notes The data provided for Scotland will include claimants from these areas as well as other geographical regions.The exact information requested is not available as claims can be moved within the Benefit Centre network to even out workloads.  The information for the latest quarter for Personal independence Payment is published and available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/506736/medical-codes-jan-2016.xlsx (table 4Cii). Previous quarters can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were returned by his Department as not being of a sufficient standard to enable a decision to be made in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Priti Patel: In each of the last four quarters for which information is available, less than 0.1% of all Employment and Support Allowance and less than 0.1% of all Personal Independent Payment assessment reports completed in Scotland have been returned to the provider for rework, meaning that the report has been deemed not fit for purpose by the Department.

Supported Housing: Housing Benefit

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the potential effect on the cost of health and criminal justice services of the proposed housing benefit cap for people living in supported accommodation.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an evidence review into the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector. Off the back of this evidence, we will conduct a policy review to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and the appropriate groups are safeguarded.

Supported Housing

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the Supported Accommodation review to be completed.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an evidence review into the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector. Off the back of this evidence, we will conduct a policy review to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and the appropriate groups are safeguarded. This review report will be published later this year.

Employment and Support Allowance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to advise HM Revenue and Customs when an individual is moved from the employment and support allowance work related activity group into the support group.

Priti Patel: The Department does not automatically share information on moves between the work related activity group and the support group with HM Revenue and Customs.At the end of each financial year the Department reports to the HM Revenue and Customs details of the tax code operated, the total amount of taxable benefit paid and the total amount of tax deducted for that tax year.

Jobcentre Plus: Food Banks

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 to Question 30330, if he will publish examples of the feedback received on the placing of work coaches in foodbanks.

Priti Patel: The Department has shared findings from the food bank initiative with Jobcentre District Managers. There are no plans to publish the Lalley Community Centre findings externally.

Department for Work and Pensions: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is provided in the table below. PeriodNumber of resignationsProportion of the workforce (%)2010/115,1434.22011/122,5912.32012/132,0361.82013/141,7831.72014/151,6831.72015/162,1202.2

Universal Credit

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to make a decision on how supported housing will be funded when universal credit is introduced.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an evidence review of the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector.  Off the back of this evidence, we will conduct a policy review to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and the appropriate groups are safeguarded.

Housing Benefit: Sheltered Housing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will conclude its review into the effect of the housing benefit cap on tenants who live in sheltered housing.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an evidence review into the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector.  We conduct a policy review to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and the appropriate groups are safeguarded.

Housing Benefit: Sheltered Housing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the housing benefit cap on sheltered housing schemes (a) tenants and (b) providers.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an evidence review of the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector. Off the back of the evidence, we will conduct a policy review to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and the appropriate groups are safeguarded.

Funerals: Low Incomes

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is tacking to tackle funeral poverty in the UK.

Justin Tomlinson: This department supports people with help on funeral expenses through the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments scheme, which provides help towards the cost of a simple funeral for people claiming eligible benefits.We are considering the recent Work and Pensions Select Committee report on support for the bereaved and will respond in due course.

Universal Credit

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people his Department has written to regarding changes to the work allowance element of universal credit.

Priti Patel: We have contacted around 59,000 people, purposefully casting the net wide to ensure that no one is missed. The actual number of claimants affected is expected to be significantly lower.

State Retirement Pensions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women who will be in receipt of the state pension in each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The requested information is available from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in the table below. Forecast number of State Pension recipients (Great Britain and Overseas) by gender: 2015/16 – 2020/21Recipients of State Pension (thousands) MenWomen 2015/165,523.17,399.02016/175,648.67,274.32017/185,765.37,118.72018/195,850.86,956.52019/205,822.06,844.72020/215,804.76,794.1   Source: Budget 2016 medium term forecasts Projections beyond 2020/21 will be published in due course. These numbers include State Pension claimants living in Great Britain or Overseas.

Employment: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the employment rate is for (a) the general population and (b) people experiencing enduring and severe mental health issues who are being supported by specialist mental health services.

Justin Tomlinson: The employment rate for 16 to 64 year olds within the UK is 74.1 per cent; this is based on the latest available figures from the Labour Force Survey covering the period of November 2015 to January 2016. A measure of those people in contact with mental health services who are 'experiencing enduring and severe mental health issues' is not available as a description to identify this group is not currently defined.On 15 February, the Prime Minister announced that tens of thousands of people with mental health conditions will be supported to find or return to work. Action will be taken across government, the NHS and private companies to treat potentially debilitating mental health conditions early on through improved access to care and to help those already struggling with mental health issues to find or return to work. The new approach is based on recommendations from the Mental Health Taskforce which set out a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem and which recognised clear links between work and good mental health and the need for more people to be able to access treatment early on so they can avoid long-term unemployment. DWP secured over £115m, including at least £40 million for a health and work innovation fund to pilot new ways to join up across the health and employment systems, in addition to existing £43m for a range of mental health trials.

Children: Maintenance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much Child Support Agency schemes arrears as at 31 March 2016 are being handled by the Child Maintenance Service; and how many cases those arrears relate to.

Priti Patel: Figures for 31 March 2016 are not yet available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what total amount of disallowance penalties was imposed on the UK by the EU in each of the last 10 years; and what contingency funding has been set aside for disallowance penalties in each of the next five years.

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contingency funding her Department has set aside for future disallowance penalties imposed by the EU on the UK in each of the next five years.

George Eustice: The amount Defra has accrued for each of the last ten financial years following the conclusion of EU audits is shown in the table below. These figures relate to a number of different Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) schemes over a number of historical scheme years as disallowance is paid in arrears. Disallowance (*) £millions05/0606/0707/0808/0909/1010/1111/1212/1313/1414/1506326162**1814223081(*) Reflects the sums the European Commission has ruled cannot be reimbursed (i.e. the amounts they have “disallowed”). (**) Includes £11million in disallowance relating to Northern Ireland. All other figures relate to England only. The Devolved Administrations are now responsible for disallowance relating to their administration of the CAP. The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts in 2014/15 provides provisions of £64.5million for future disallowance related to historical audits. Future disallowance penalties are difficult to predict. However, the Department’s aim is to reduce disallowance to as low a level as possible and we expect a return to disallowance of about 2 per cent of scheme value by 2019.

Water: EU Law

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 31014, whether her Department has (a) paid and (b) been issued with any fines for not meeting the aim of achieving good status for all water bodies by December 2015.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 31014, what exemptions provided by the EU Water Framework Directive allow (a) the deadline to be extended to 2021, (b) the deadline to be extended to 2027 and (c) a less stringent objective to be set.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 31014, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve water quality and (b) ensure that all water bodies achieve good status as soon as possible.

Rory Stewart: The Department has not been issued with any fines relating to any aspect of its implementation of the Water Framework Directive. The exemptions referred to in my reply to PQ 31014 are: Article 4(4) provides for extensions of the deadline to 2021 or 2027 for reasons of disproportionate cost or technical feasibility; Article 4(5) provides for setting of less stringent objectives where it would be disproportionately expensive or technically infeasible to achieve good status due to natural conditions or the effects of essential human activity; Article 4(6) allows for temporary deterioration due to natural causes such as extreme floods or prolonged drought; and Article 4(7) allows for deterioration from high status to good status and failure to achieve good status to allow for new sustainable development activities. The application of each of the exemptions is subject to conditions set out in the above provision. River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) provide the framework for protecting and improving the water environment. Updated plans covering the period 2016 to 2021 were published by the Environment Agency (EA) on 18 February. The Plans for England confirm over £3 billion investment in the water environment by 2021, leading to improvements in at least 680 water bodies by 2021, including an overall target to enhance at least 8,000km of fresh waters by 2021. The EA is currently working with Defra to profile the delivery of this target over the six years that the RBMP covers, and is also working with partners to explore opportunities to deliver more. The EA coordinates action by water companies, farmers, local groups, businesses and councils to achieve the targets set out in the Plans. These actions include reducing pollution from sewage treatment works, managing water abstraction, opening up rivers to salmon and other fish species, and improving the physical habitat.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on farmers in receipt of payments from the Common Agricultural Policy.

Rory Stewart: At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

Flood Control: Northamptonshire

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has put in place further flood prevention measures in response to the recent flooding in Northamptonshire.

Rory Stewart: As the Lead Local Flood Authority, Northamptonshire County Council will be carrying out 17 formal flood investigations, with support from the Environment Agency. These flood reports will recommend actions to reduce the risk of future flooding. The Environment Agency will review their programme of works, in line with the recent flooding incident, and will investigate if any Capital work can be brought forward to reduce flood risk.

Fly-tipping

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been raised in fines for fly-tipping in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse of removing fly-tipped waste from public land was in that period.

Rory Stewart: It is not possible to identify from centrally held information the amount of revenue generated from the collection of fixed penalties (for example, court fines and fine-registered fixed penalty notices) relating to fly-tipping offences. The estimated clearance costs of removing fly-tipped waste from public land by local authorities in England for the last three years are set out in the table below. YearClearance cost2012/13£36.4 million2013/14£45.2 million2014/15£49.5 million

Beverage Containers: Recycling

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of a deposit return system for single-use drinks containers on the level of litter.

Rory Stewart: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green on 11 April this year, PQ UIN 32607.

Common Sugar Regime

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the level of EU subsidies provided to sugar manufacturers.

George Eustice: There are no specific EU subsidies provided to sugar manufacturers under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, those that produce their own sugar beet are entitled to make a claim for support under the CAP Basic Payment Scheme. Details of the amounts received by UK beneficiaries can be found on the UK CAP Payments website at http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx.

Livestock: Animal Welfare

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to maintain the statutory status of all the farm animal welfare codes.

George Eustice: The Government intends to retain statutory farm animal welfare codes.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

George Eustice: The table below shows the number of resignations and the proportion of staff who had resigned in the last six years.Year201020112012201320142015Number of staff resigned594437526153% of staff resigned2.3%1.9%1.7%2.4%2.8%2.6%

Sewers: Disposable Wipes

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that manufacturers of disposable wipes follow water industry guidelines and use the do not flush logo.

Rory Stewart: The Government is encouraging the water industry to act collectively, through initiatives such as 21st century drainage. This continues its work with the manufacturers of flushable products to agree appropriate labelling and campaigns to inform the public what should, and should not, be flushed down the toilet.

Heathrow Airport: Air Pollution

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what role the Environment Agency has in the Government's assessment of whether expansion of Heathrow Airport would be compatible with air quality legislation.

Rory Stewart: Along with other Statutory Environmental Bodies, the Environment Agency is a member of the Department for Transport’s Appraisal of Sustainability Steering Group which is considering the range of environmental, social and economic impacts associated with the short-listed options for airport capacity in the south east. This is part of the work that the Secretary of State for Transport outlined in his oral statement in December last year, which confirmed that the Government would be starting work on preparing the building blocks for an Airports National Policy Statement.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what advice she has received from the Science Advisory Council on (a) causes of bovine TB, (b) methods of controlling bovine TB, (c) risks associated with badger culls and (d) the updated licensing criteria for badger culls; and if she will review the scientific evidence on badger culls before licensing any further such culls.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she consulted the Science Advisory Council on her Department's decision to remove the limit on the duration of the badger-culling period.

George Eustice: The Science Advisory Council (SAC) has a high-level strategic role and does not normally advise on detailed scientific aspects of policies. Therefore advice has not been sought recently from the SAC on the causes of, or methods of controlling, bovine TB, including badger control. The Guidance to Natural England on licences to control the risk of bovine TB from badgers was published in December 2015 after a public consultation. The Guidance reflects the advice of the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer and Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor.

Litter and Fly-tipping

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's strategy is for litter and fly-tipping.

Rory Stewart: Defra has announced plans for a new litter strategy and we are working with industry, experts and councils across England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. The litter strategy will promote affordable and replicable ways to influence littering behaviour – and reduce littering. It will encourage innovation in physical infrastructure and cleansing methods, and in product design, and will help to make a compelling and engaging case for investment in work to tackle litter and littering. To develop the strategy we will seek the views of, among others, representatives from local government, campaign groups and independent experts, as well as voices from the packaging and fast-food industries. As part of this process we will also establish a number of working groups on specific issues, such as roadside litter, data and monitoring and enforcement. We are committed to tackling fly-tipping as set out in the Government’s manifesto. Subject to Parliamentary approval, we will give local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping. Regulations were laid in Parliament on 11 March. These new enforcement tools will be available to local authorities from 9 May, providing them with an alternative to prosecutions and will assist them to take a proportionate enforcement response. This will build on other actions, including: Cracking down on offenders by strengthening the Sentencing Council’sGuideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July 2014.Making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to bestopped, searched and seized.Continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping PreventionGroup to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting,investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.

Dogs: Smuggling

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland and Scotland about the illegal trafficking of puppies from the Republic of Ireland; and what assessment she has made of the effect on such trafficking of the transfer in Scotland of search powers from Trading Standards to local port authorities.

George Eustice: The Government takes the illegal movement of dogs and puppies seriously and it is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations, delivery bodies, enforcement agencies and non-government organisations to tackle this issue. Whilst there have been no recent Ministerial meetings on the illegal movement of dogs, Defra’s Chief Veterinary Officer has recently discussed the issue with his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland counterparts. Additionally, there have been discussions on this issue between other Defra officials and officials within the Devolved Administrations. Defra has not carried out an assessment of the impact of transferring Trading Standards search powers to local port authorities in Scotland as this is a devolved matter. However, we will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and other interested parties to ensure that there is a full exchange of ideas and information on combating the illegal importation of puppies.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost was of gamma interferon testing for bovine tuberculosis in (a) High Risk, (b) Edge and (c) Low Risk Areas in each year since 2010.

George Eustice: The estimated laboratory costs to Government for interferon gamma testing carried out in the current bovine TB risk areas in each financial year since 2010/11 are:  Cost (£)YearHigh Risk AreaEdge AreaLow Risk Area2010/1130,00085,000187,0002011/1210,000138,00076,0002012/1322,000225,00084,0002013/1455,000369,000145,0002014/1563,000760,000122,000 These costs do not include field costs such as sampling or transport.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of Officially Tuberculosis Free-Withdrawn breakdowns were detected by slaughterhouse surveillance in (a) High Risk, (b) Edge and (c) Low Risk bovine tuberculosis areas in 2015.

George Eustice: Statistics on the number and proportion of new Officially Tuberculosis Free-Withdrawn (OTF-W TB) breakdowns first detected at slaughterhouse surveillance (i.e. post-mortem meat inspection of cattle at commercial slaughter) in 2014 in the three risk areas of England are published in table 5.1 in the Annual Bovine TB Surveillance Report for England (2014). The historic annual data series are shown in Figure 5.1 of the same report. The report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/467803/england-surveillance-report14.pdf Risk AreaTotal OTF-W new breakdownsOTF-W breakdowns first detected at slaughterhouseProportion of OTF-W breakdowns first detected at slaughterhouseOTF-W breakdowns disclosed through skin testingHigh Risk Area2,52750019.8%2,027Edge1853317.8%152Low Risk Area351337.1%22 The Surveillance Report covering 2015 is expected to be published in August 2016.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria Natural England uses to assess applications for badger cull licences; and when such decisions on such applications will be announced.

George Eustice: Natural England assesses badger control licence applications using guidance issued under section 15(2) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERC). The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-natural-england-preventing-spread-of-bovine-tb. Decisions on this year’s licence applications will be announced before the start of badger control operations.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Social Rented Housing: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31038 on social rented housing: EU nationals, if he will publish the data that is available on the nationality of households and persons on social housing waiting lists.

Brandon Lewis: The Department’s annual Local Authority’s Housing Statistics provide information on the total households on local authority waiting lists in England but do not record nationality. The Department’s English Housing Survey does ask whether respondents are on a waiting list and also records nationality. The sample size, however, is not sufficient to provide a robust estimate by nationality.

Right to Buy Scheme: Housing Associations

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department plans to provide to housing association tenants on the right to buy after Royal Assent to the Housing and Planning Bill.

Brandon Lewis: The Government runs a Right to Buy website which provides comprehensive information for interested tenants (https://righttobuy.gov.uk). This was recently updated with information about the voluntary Right to Buy pilot scheme. In addition, the Government’s official Right to Buy Agent service provides free, impartial advice to tenants interested in understanding and taking up the existing right to buy products. We are working closely with the National Housing Federation on the guidance available to housing association tenants under the voluntary right to buy agreement with the sector, and would look to ensure it is published before the roll out of the main scheme.

Starter Home Initiative

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether any expressions of interest have been received from neighbourhood planning groups for small-scale sites consisting of starter homes to be included in their neighbourhood plans.

Brandon Lewis: The Department does not hold this information.

Starter Home Initiative

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether requirements for starter homes will be retrospectively placed on developments which have received planning permission but are not yet built.

Brandon Lewis: Requirements for starter homes will not be placed retrospectively on developments that have received planning permission.Section 106 agreements may of course be renegotiated at any time by mutual consent. Planning guidance is clear that local planning authorities should be flexible in their requirements, taking into account site specific circumstances and changing circumstances.

Landlords: Licensing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have requested permission from his Department to introduce licensing of private landlords since 1 April 2015; and whether each such request (a) was granted, (b) was refused or (c) is awaiting a decision.

Brandon Lewis: Since April 2015, my Department has received three large selective licensing applications from the following local authorities: London Borough of Redbridge, Burnley Borough Council and Peterborough City Council.Redbridge's application to introduce a borough wide scheme has been declined as their plans did not meet the selective licensing approval criteria. The Burnley and Peterborough applications are currently under consideration.

Planning Enforcement Fund

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many individual injunction cases the Planning Enforcement Fund helped finance in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much each local authority received from the Planning Enforcement Fund in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities applied for monies from the Planning Enforcement Fund; and how many such applications were successful.

Brandon Lewis: The Department received six applications for enforcement grants before the deadline for submitting applications and all were successful.Two grants were made in the financial year 2014-15 to Staffordshire County Council (£8,010) and Stratford-on-Avon District Council (£3,200).Four grants were made in the financial year 2015-16 to Bath and North East Somerset Council (£7,993.75), London Borough of Camden (£8,184.50), Chelmsford City Council (£2,755) and South Gloucestershire Council (£3,291.66).

Temporary Accommodation: Sleeping Rough

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.129 of Budget 2016, HC 901, from which part of his Department's budget the £100 million allocated to deliver low-cost second stage accommodation for rough sleepers will come.

Mr Marcus Jones: One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to do all we can to prevent homelessness.We announced at Budget an additional £100 million to deliver low cost ‘move on’ accommodation to enable people leaving hostels and refuges to make a sustainable recovery from a homelessness crisis, providing at least 2,000 places for vulnerable people to enable independent living. We will reprioritise money within our existing capital budgets to deliver this accommodation. This will not affect delivery of the Government’s Starter Homes and Shared Ownership programmes.

Housing: Surveys

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Housing Survey, how many household reference people (HRP) of each nationality held housing of each tenure type in each of the last five years; and what proportion each nationality represents of the overall number of HRPs for each tenure type in each such year.

Brandon Lewis: The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

Social Rented Housing

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of households lived in (a) social rented accommodation, (b) local authority social rented properties and (c) housing association social rented properties in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: The department publishes this information annually in the English Housing Survey headline report. See AT1.1 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/501068/2014-15_Section_1_Households_tables_and_figures_FINAL.xlsxA summary table is provided below: social renters local authorityhousing associationall social renters   thousands of households2010-111,8351,9923,826 2011-121,7822,0263,808 2012-131,6842,0003,684 2013-141,6412,2793,920 2014-151,6392,2723,912percentages2010-118.49.117.52011-128.19.217.32012-137.79.116.82013-147.310.117.32014-157.310.117.4Source: English Housing Survey

Social Services: Finance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of transitional funding grants on adult social care provision in areas that (a) receive additional funding and (b) have not been allocated a transitional funding grant.

Mr Marcus Jones: The 2015 Spending Review considered a wide range of factors that could impact on the costs local authorities face in delivering local services. It recognised the important priority and growing costs of adult social care and offered a package of measures worth up to £3.5 billion a year by 2019-20 to address these pressures. This includes a dedicated social care precept of up to 2% a year and £1.5 billion additional funding by 2019/20 through the improved Better Care Fund.The 2016/17 Local Government Finance Settlement included a new approach to allocating funding that ensures councils delivering the same set of services receive the same percentage change in settlement core funding for those services. The Transition Grant supports those local authorities that did not benefit from the new approach, helping them transition to a world where local resources instead of central government grant fund local services. An explanatory note on the method of allocation of the Transition Grant has been published and copies have been made available in the Library of both Houses.

Local Government Finance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding formula and criteria were used by his Department to assess which local authorities would receive a transitional funding grant.

Mr Marcus Jones: An explanatory note on the method of allocation of the Transition Grant has been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510870/Explanatory_note_on_the_allocation_of_the_Transition_Grant.pdfCopies have been made available in the Library of both Houses.

Starter Home Initiative

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that starter homes are affordable; and how his Department determines its definition of affordability of such homes.

Brandon Lewis: The Government expects starter homes to be entry level properties; where the value reflects the average first time buyer price in an area. We are introducing maximum price caps after the discount has been applied to ensure that they are in reach of the typical first time buyer; and are working with the sector to secure a transparent valuation process to ensure starter homes are valued fairly in each area with a genuine discount.

Right to Buy Scheme

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that like-for-like replacements are provided in the same local authority area for (a) properties sold under the Right to Buy scheme and (b) properties sold to fund the discounted sale of properties sold under the Right to Buy scheme.

Brandon Lewis: The voluntary Right to Buy agreement with the National Housing Federation states that housing associations will have the flexibility to replace nationally.The 2012 Reinvigorated Right to Buy scheme introduced for the first time ever, a requirement to provide a new affordable home for every additional sale nationally. There is a rolling 3 year deadline for local authorities to deliver additional affordable homes through new build or acquisition under the reinvigorated Right to Buy, and so far they have delivered well within sales profile.The Government is committed to using a portion of every receipt from our value vacant housing policy to fund the building of additional homes. The Housing and Planning Bill currently going through Parliament allows the Secretary of State and a local authority to enter into an agreement for the local authority to retain part of its receipts from the policy to lead on the delivery of more homes that meet housing need. Recognising London’s particular housing need, where these agreements are with a local authority in London, every empty dwelling assumed sold will be replaced by at least two new affordable homes.

Land: Sales

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.291 of Budget 2016, when his Department plans to begin the consultation process on proposals to increase transparency in the land market.

Brandon Lewis: Government will be consulting on improving the visibility of information relating to options to purchase or lease land during the summer.

Housing: Construction

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.121 of Budget 2016, HC 901, when his Department will commence working with local authorities to release land capacity for at least 160,000 homes; and when such houses will be built.

Brandon Lewis: A guidance document for local authorities was published shortly after Budget. It set out how the Government will support and empower local authorities to dispose of assets that could be made surplus. This includes a broad range of policy measures, including: the expansion of the One Public Estate programme, funding for Starter Homes, flexibility in the spending of capital receipts, support for new Garden Villages, Towns and Cities, and support from the Homes and Communities Agency. The document can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-assets-disposal-guidance.

New Towns

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 6 of the March 2016 Locally-led Garden, Towns and Cities prospectus, when he will introduce legislative proposals to update the New Towns Act 1981.

Brandon Lewis: The government will introduce legislation to update the New Towns Act 1981 at the earliest legislative opportunity.

Local Government: Public Private Partnerships

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answers of 21 March 2016 to Questions 31227 and 31228, if he will review what guidance is given by his Department to local authorities on public private partnerships.

Mr Marcus Jones: There are no current plans to produce updated guidance for local authorities on public private partnerships. However, my Department continuously reviews developments in the sector and if it is identified that take-up of new public private partnerships by local authorities is increasing, I will reconsider this position.

Health Services: Social Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the principles to underpin reform in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report from the Independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England, published in February 2016, what steps his Department plans to take to integrate care spanning people's physical, mental and social needs.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Government: Devolution

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) cost of running and (b) number of full-time equivalent employees based within the Cities and Local Growth Unit in each year since its inception; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: The Cities and Local Growth Unit is a joint BIS-DCLG team that supports a range of local growth activity. It was established in December 2013 to support policy areas including Growth Deals and City Deals. Its allocated headcount in the past three years has been 123 in 2013/14 and 2014/15, rising to 161.9 by the end of 2015/16, during which time it took on work in additional areas, including Devolution Deals, Enterprise Zones, and High Streets, Town Centres and Coastal Communities.The Department has estimated the running costs of the unit for 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 as £2.52m, £6.88m and £9.57m respectively. The figure is low in 2013-14 as the Unit was established three months before the end of the financial year. This estimate includes pay and non-pay costs.

Wales Office

Children's Commissioner for Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Children's Commissioner for Wales about aligning her powers with those of the  Children's Commissioner for England.

Alun Cairns: Wales Office Ministers have not had any recent discussions with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales about aligning her powers with those of the Children’s Commissioner for England. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales fulfils an important role in our efforts to protect children and I would of course be happy to meet with her if she feels her role and remit could be strengthened in any way.

Ministry of Justice

Immigration: Appeals

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to (a) shorten the immigration appeals process and (b) reduce the number of immigration appeals.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Immigration appeals are determined by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) which are administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). HMCTS works with the Home Office and others to monitor and continuously improve appeal processes and timeliness. The Immigration Act 2014 simplified the appeals system, reducing the number of decisions that can be appealed. For the quarter October to December 2015, 18,368 appeals were received – a 29% reduction when compared with the same quarter in 2014.

Immigration: Appeals

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of immigration appeals have been successful in each year since 2004.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Published statistics detailing the total number of appeals disposed of by the tribunals, and the percentage of these which have been allowed and dismissed by the First-tier Tribunal from 2007/08 and the Upper Tribunal from 2010/11, can be viewed on the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-and-gender-recognition-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2015

Aviation: Lasers

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30119, on aviation: lasers, what proportion of those cases ended in prosecution in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts specifically of offences under article 222 of the Air Navigation Order 2009, with the conviction ratio, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2014 (the latest available) can be viewed in the table.  Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under S222 Air Navigation Order 2009, England and Wales, 2010 to 2014 (1)(2)StatuteOffenceOutcome2010 (3)2011201220132014Air Navigation Order 2009, AA.221(a) & (b), 222 & 241(5) & Sch 13 Part BExhibiting, directing or shining a light which by its glare or liability to be mistaken for an aeronautical ground light would endanger aircraftProceeded against3054372321Found guilty2647272119Conviction ratio (4)87%87%73%91%90%(1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(3) Data for 2010 includes other offences related to lasers which cannot be separately analysed.  (4) The conviction ratio is calculated as the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of proceedings. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.  Ref: PQ 32959

Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004: Convictions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions have been secured under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act since its introduction in 2004.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of offences under the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004, in England and Wales, from 2004 to 2014 (the latest available) can be viewed at the following link:http://www.gla.gov.uk/our-impact/conviction-totals/

Crimes of Violence: EU Nationals

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many nationals of other EU member states who have been victims of violent crime in the UK have been compensated as a result of EU legislation in each year since 2010; and how much that compensation amounted to.

Mike Penning: The Criminal Inquiries Compensation Scheme is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. The Authority does not record or collect data on the nationality of individuals who make applications for compensation or are granted awards of compensation under the Scheme.

Prison Service: Retirement

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the prison service of prison officers working longer before retirement.

Andrew Selous: The Alpha pension, which introduced a higher Normal Pension Age, was brought in under legislation. All consultation/negotiations with the Civil Service trade unions including the Prison Officers Association (POA) who are the trade union responsible for prison officers in the National Offender Management Service were carried out by the Pension Scheme Executive in Civil Service Pensions – Cabinet Office. The Pension Scheme Executive in 2012, held separate additional talks with the POA regarding the increase in pension age and offered a package under the Enhanced Effective Pension Age (EEPA). This provided an opportunity for staff to purchase a lower pension age, which would be subsidised by the employer. The POA membership through postal vote, rejected this offer.

Prison Service: Pensions

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how prison officers were informed of changes to their pensions following the transfer from Classic to the Alpha Scheme; and how those changes affected the employment contracts of such prison officers.

Andrew Selous: During the consultation period with The Pension Scheme Executive in the Cabinet Office, the Prison Officers Association (POA) published various bulletins and communications confirming the change in pension arrangements. Additionally NOMS HR circulated communications through their internal Intranet system which is available to all staff. The intranet article directed staff to the Civil Service Pension website which held the details about the pension changes being introduced. Cabinet Office issued letters to all staff informing them of the pension changes. NOMS policy is to not issue new employment contracts or variations for routine legislation changes.

Video Conferencing

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of efficiency savings made from use of video link technology in criminal cases.

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what further plans he has to extend the scope for police officers to give evidence via video link during trials.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Use of video in criminal cases provides efficiencies which benefit all criminal justice agencies, and support victims and witnesses. In particular video links allow police officers to give evidence to the court from a police station, rather than attending a courthouse, making significant savings in working hours for the police. The use of video within Police Forces is well established for the giving of evidence. HMCTS is also working with Police Forces to extend the use of video to applications for search warrants and other warrants. The Government is investing over £700m to modernise the courts and tribunals. This investment will not only mean an extension in the extent of video usage by police, but also an increase in benefits.

Prisons: South East

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of category C prison spaces in the South East.

Andrew Selous: This Government will always ensure that we have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts. We are investing £1.3 billion to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it even more efficient and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation.

Elections: Tower Hamlets

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with Chief Crown Prosecutors on the decision not to prosecute any individuals for suspected electoral and financial fraud committed in Tower Hamlets during the mayoral election there in 2014.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice has not had any discussions with Chief Crown Prosecutors on this matter. Decisions on whether to charge or to prosecute individuals suspected of electoral and financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are matters for the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. I refer my Honorable Friend to Mr. Marcus Jones’ response to Parliamentary Question 29350.

South Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the report of the review of the South Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company that took place in November 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: The information requested is commercially sensitive and, as such, will not be released. It is normal Government practice not to release commercially sensitive information. We hold providers rigorously to account for their performance and take action wherever they are falling short. Following an audit by the Ministry of Justice, South Yorkshire CRC developed an action plan. We are continuing to monitor the CRC's performance closely. Our probation reforms are designed to make sure almost all offenders receive support on release, including, for the first time, those sentenced to less than 12 months.

Sentencing: Wales

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of women sentenced in each police force area in Wales were sentenced to immediate custody in each year since 2011.

Dominic Raab: Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts taking into account all the circumstances of each case. In order to pass a custodial sentence the court must be satisfied that the offence is so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community order can be justified. The number of female offenders sentenced to immediate custody at all courts in Wales, by police force area and with custody rate, from 2011 to 2014 (the latest information available) can be viewed in the table. Female offenders sentenced at all courts to immediate custody, with custody rate, by police force area, Wales, 2011 to 2014 (1)(2)   Police force areaOutcome2011201220132014  North WalesSentenced3,6093,2333,6844,015of whichImmediate custody74979893Custody rate(3)2%3%3%2%  GwentSentenced4,1644,5732,8412,566of whichImmediate custody70948691Custody rate(3)2%2%3%4%  South WalesSentenced9,66311,01914,32615,959of whichImmediate custody328291344345Custody rate3%3%2%2%  Dyfed-PowysSentenced2,2732,3112,7342,714of whichImmediate custody58424437Custody rate(3)3%2%2%1%  Wales (total)Sentenced19,70921,13623,58525,254of whichImmediate custody530524572566Custody rate(3)3%2%2%2%  (1) The sentence shown is the most severe sentence given for the principal offence (i.e. the principal sentence), secondary sentences given for the principal offence and sentences for non-principal offences are not counted in the tables.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (3) The proportion of offenders sentenced who are sentenced to immediate custody.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.   Ref: PQ 33331

Courts and Tribunals: Digital Technology

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Written Statement of 11 February 2016, HCWS540, on HM Courts and Tribunals Service estate, whether his Department's plans for updating the technology of that estate have been revised following that announcement of additional court closures; and if he will publish his plans for technology investments in the Calderdale Local Justice area over the next four years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The overall investment plans have not been changed following the recent announcements of court closures. No new technology equipment will be installed into courts that are now planned to close. In regards to the Calderdale local justice area, the HMCTS Reform programme is designed to deliver an improved service nationwide. There is no intention to publish plans specifically for technology investments in the Calderdale Local Justice area.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of supported housing in helping to rehabilitate ex-offenders by providing them with stable accommodation and helping them find work.

Andrew Selous: Ensuring ex-offenders have suitable, stable accommodation and employment is vitally important in helping to break the cycle of reoffending.In recognition of the importance of suitable accommodation, the ability to source accommodation is one of the measures against which Community Rehabilitation Companies are assessed.

Sexual Offences: Lie Detectors

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions a lie detector test has been used for serious sex offenders as part of their licence conditions, upon completion of their custodial sentence, since August 2014.

Andrew Selous: Since August 2014 there have been 820 polygraph examinations conducted on sex offenders on licence in the community.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 27711, on personal independence payments appeals, where information on the proportion of people successfully appealing ineligibility for the enhanced rate of mobility under personal independence payments is held.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost. Information about the number and success rates of PIP appeals in general is published in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report, for the period October to December 2015, published on 10 March 2016, can be viewed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-and-gender-recognition-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2015.

Custodial Treatment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contracts relating to (a) secure training centres and (b) prisons MTC Novo have been awarded; and how many such contracts that firm is currently under consideration for.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice holds contract information related to (a) secure training centres and (b) prisons, and can confirm that MTCnovo Limited have been awarded one contract associated with Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre. At present MTCnovo Limited are not under consideration for any further secure training centre or prison contracts.

Secure Training Centres: Contracts

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether G4S was invited by his Department to retender for the contracts to run Rainsbrook and Medway Secure Training Centres under its new trading name; and what weight that company's record in carrying out its previous contractual roles has in the decision-making process.

Andrew Selous: G4S Care and Justice (UK) Ltd commenced as and remained the legal entity and prime contractor throughout the Secure Training Centre retendering process and as such was subject to robust and rigorous assessment as ‘G4S Care and Justice (UK) Ltd’ at the pre-qualification stage of the competition. The name ‘Inspiring Futures’ only represents a rebranding of the work that G4S Care and Justice (UK) Ltd undertakes in the youth detention arena.

Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which firms tendered to take over the G4S contracts at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice holds this information and can confirm the following 5 bidders submitted tenders in last year’s competition for Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre:• Diagrama Foundation• G4S Care and Justice (UK) Limited• Ingeus UK Limited• MTCnovo Limited• Sodexo Limited

Prisons: Drugs

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the statistical trends set out in the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 20933, what plans he has to tackle drug use in prison.

Andrew Selous: We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prison in England and Wales. We recently introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they could face prosecution and extra time behind bars. We have a comprehensive range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons. We are also piloting the use of body scanners to reveal drugs concealed within the body. If successful, we will use these to complement existing tactics to prevent the smuggling of illicit drugs. In addition, there is a wide-ranging programme of work being undertaken by NOMS and its partners to tackle the use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), which we know are having a particularly destructive effect in prisons. This includes legislation to control the supply, possession and conveyance of any NPS into a prison. We have also trained more than 300 dogs to specifically detect NPS as well as piloting mandatory drug testing of prisoners for psychoactive substances in 34 prisons. We are evaluating the effect of the test and will continue to monitor prisoner drug use so that we can continue to support meaningful interventions and provide an effective testing regime. We are also working with the Department of Health and others to improve our understanding of the risks NPS present for offenders and to provide appropriate information, guidance and support to offenders and those working with them in prison.

Prisoner Escapes

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving sentences for (a) murder, (b) attempted murder, (c) rape and (d) attempted rape are currently unlawfully at large having escaped or absconded from prison.

Andrew Selous: The number of escapes and absconds are published annually, by financial year, in the Prison Digest: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/494121/prison-performance-digest.xlsx Both escapes and absconds from prison have fallen to record lows since 2010. The specific information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents involving the use of drone technology have been recorded at each type of prison facility in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous: I refer the Hon Member to my answer to PQ 20357. Incidents involving drones are rare, but we remain constantly vigilant to all new threats to prison security. This Government has made it a criminal offence to throw, or otherwise project, any article of substance into prison without authorisation. Anyone using drones in an attempt to get contraband into prisons can be punished with a sentence of up to two years. We take a zero tolerance approach to illicit material in prisons and work closely with the police and CPS to ensure those responsible for a drone incident are caught and, if appropriate, prosecuted. There were no reported drone incidents in 2013; 2 reported incidents in 2014; and 33 reported incidents in 2015. These figures include drone finds and sightings of drones by prison staff in and around all types of public and private prisons in England and Wales. These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisoners: Donors

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 33183, whether his Department advises prisons (a) to ask prisoners upon induction if they are already organ donors or if they wish to become one and (b) to keep records of which prisoners are registered organ donors; and if he will amend prison service orders to ensure that the organ donors register is taken into account if a prisoner dies in a prison or in a hospital.

Andrew Selous: The Organ Donor Register is a confidential record maintained by NHS Blood and Transplant and patient details are not shared with other organisations; asking prisoners if they are registered could serve to compromise their confidentiality. Joining the Organ Donor Register is a voluntary matter and there are no plans to focus on specific groups such as prisoners. The decision to be a donor is one which prisoners should discuss with their next of kin. The Government remains fully committed to the strategy agreed in 2013 “Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020”  (www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/to2020/) which aims to enable the UK to match world-class performance in organ donation and transplantation.

Interpreters

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what financial penalties Capita is obliged to pay under its contract with his Department for leaving its contract to provide interpreting services.

Mike Penning: The MoJ’s contract with Capita Translation and Interpretation (TI) naturally expires on 30th October 2016. The Ministry does not anticipate an early withdrawal of services by Capita; no financial penalties are therefore currently applicable.

HM Treasury

Aviation: VAT Exemptions

Gavin Newlands: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects his Department's review of airside VAT-free shopping to be published.

Gavin Newlands: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on its review of the treatment of VAT in airside retail shops.

Mr David Gauke: On 31 December 2015, the Chancellor announced a review of the tax treatment of airside retail sales, with a view to identifying options for passengers to receive more of the direct benefits. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has completed its initial fact finding. The Government is keen to identify options that provide overall best value for travellers. This means fully understanding the potential impacts of possible changes on travellers, retailers and airports, and I have asked HMRC to explore these thoroughly. Once this work has been completed, decisions on the best way forward will be made in the autumn.

Revenue and Customs

Greg Mulholland: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) Post Transaction Valuation and (b) Pay As You Earn healthcare requests were made to HM Revenue and Customs' Shares and Assets Valuation team in (i) the 2015-16 tax year and (ii) previous tax years for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke: The figures below show the requests received by HM Revenue and Customs Shares and Assets Valuation in the last four tax years. Figures are also given for the total number of Post Transaction Valuation checks and those relating to the recently withdrawn income tax checks.PAYE healthcheckTotal Post Transaction Valuation CheckIncome Tax Post Transaction Valuation Check2015-163914415582014-154815175862013-146915026062012-13711792727

Taxation: British Overseas Territories

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph A.23 of the Economic and fiscal outlook of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Cm 9212, published in March 2016, what steps he has taken to increase HM Revenue and Custom's yields from tax repatriation from British overseas territories.

Mr David Gauke: The Government is absolutely committed to exposing and acting on financial wrongdoing and we relentlessly pursue tax evaders. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has brought in more than £2 billion from offshore tax evaders since 2010 and the government has repeatedly strengthened our powers so we can take even tougher action against those who try to cheat the honest majority by hiding their money in offshore tax havens. The Government has led a transformation in global tax transparency which, from this year, will see HMRC start to automatically receive offshore account and trust data from more than 90 countries, including British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This will further increase HMRC’s ability to crack down on those still hiding their money offshore. The Government is further pushing for full and effective transparency for UK law enforcement to have access to beneficial ownership information of companies from all its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. The Government has also introduced tough new powers and game-changing measures to tackle offshore and onshore tax evasion, and as recently as the summer Budget 2015 gave HMRC an additional £800 million to invest in compliance and tax evasion work. This is expected to recover £7.2 billion in tax over the next five years and includes tripling the number of criminal investigations that HMRC can undertake into serious and complex tax crime, focusing particularly on wealthy individuals and corporates, with the aim of achieving 100 prosecutions a year by the end of the Parliament. The new powers and measures include: Higher financial penalties for those hiding money and other assets offshore, such as, for the first time, linking the penalty to the value of the asset kept offshore. These are in addition to existing measures which already allow for fines of up to 300% of any tax found to have been evaded offshore. New civil penalties for those who deliberately enable offshore evasion so they will face the same penalty as the tax evader. Public naming of both evaders and those who enable evasion. A new criminal offence for corporations that fail to prevent their representatives from facilitating tax evasion. The new offence, which will be legislated for this year, will ensure that corporations exercise due diligence over the services they provide, and ensure that those who don’t can be held to account. A new strict liability criminal offence for offshore evasion, which we are currently legislating for – so in the worst cases it’s no longer possible to plead ignorance in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution.

Treasury: Insurance Companies

Andy Slaughter: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) written and (b) other contacts he or Ministers of his Department had with senior executives at (a) AXA UK, (b) Ageas UK, (c) General Insurance, (d) Direct Line Insurance and (e) Admiral Insurance between 1 September and 26 November 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and representations with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Minimum Wage

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many workers his Department estimates will be financially worse off as a result of the recent increase in the minimum wage.

Damian Hinds: The introduction of the National Living Wage on April 1st marked a pay rise for low paid workers across the UK. Our objective is for it to reach over £9 by 2020. This means an employee aged 25 or over working full-time on the National Minimum Wage will earn over £4,200 a year more by 2020 in cash terms, or £3,800 after taking into account inflation. 2.9m low wage workers are expected to benefit directly, and up to 6m could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the NLW would have, in their words, only a “fractional” effect on unemployment. And taking into account the NLW, the OBR forecast that employment would rise by 1.1 million by 2020.

Treasury: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Harriett Baldwin: A report was generated from the department’s data management system for the financial years requested. I can confirm that a total of 541 officials have resigned in the last six financial years. The proportion of resignations for each of those six years can be viewed in the table below.  April 10 to March 11April 11 to March 12April 12 to March 13Resignations9210482Proportion of Officials (%)6.9%9.0%7.2%  April 13 to March 14April 14 to March 15April 15 to March 16Resignations8310179Proportion of Officials (%)7.5%9.1%6.3%

Air Passenger Duty

Lilian Greenwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's discussion paper on options for supporting English regional airports from the impacts of air passenger duty devolution, published in July 2015, what advice he has received from the European Commission on the compliance of the options in that paper with state aid rules; and whether he plans to issue an update to that discussion paper.

Damian Hinds: The Government is carefully considering the responses received to the discussion paper on options to support English regional airports from the impacts of air passenger duty devolution and will respond in due course. The options contained in the discussion paper could each be taken forward in a variety of ways. Any proposals brought forward will be compliant with EU law and the European Commission will be consulted, if required.

Financial Institutions: Assets

Imran Hussain: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to publish aggregate statistics showing the size and origin of assets in UK financial institutions.

Harriett Baldwin: The Bank of England publishes aggregated data relating to UK Financial Institutions’ balance sheets. Its statistical releases can be found via the following link: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/Pages/calendar/default.aspx Under the Capital Requirements (country-by-country reporting) Regulations 2013 there are reporting obligations on institutions in the United Kingdom within scope of the Capital Requirements Directive 4. The regulations require institutions to publish annually details on a consolidated basis, by country where they have an establishment. These details include: their name, nature of activities and geographical location; number of employees; and their turnover.

Taxation

Mr David Lammy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the implications of the leaked documents relating to the operations of Mossack Fonseca for HM Revenue and Custom's policy on investigating and tackling tax evasion and avoidance using offshore vehicles.

Mr David Lammy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide dedicated funding to HM Revenue and Customs for the investigation and tackling of tax evasion and avoidance through the use of offshore companies, in light of the leaked documents relating to the operations of Mossack Fonseca.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has introduced tough new powers and game-changing measures to tackle offshore and onshore tax evasion, and as recently as the summer Budget 2015 gave HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) an additional £800 million to invest in expanding compliance and tax evasion work. This is expected to recover £7.2 billion in tax over the next five years. The Government is introducing a criminal sanction for corporates facilitating tax evasion, and launching a taskforce, jointly led by HMRC and the National Crime Agency (NCA). Drawing on investigators, compliance specialists and analysts from HMRC, NCA, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), its purpose will be to swiftly obtain and analyse the Mossack Fonseca papers and take rapid action where there is evidence of wrongdoing. The taskforce will look beyond tax into all potential areas of financial crime and other regulatory breaches. The taskforce will provide a progress report to the Chancellor and Home Secretary later this year. The report will set out the their initial assessment of the information in the Panama papers and proposed actions for further analysis and strategy for pursuing any evidence found of wrongdoing and regulatory breaches. Additional resourcing of £10m will ensure that the taskforce’s work can be done on top of departmental commitments. Where resource is moved into the task force, existing roles will be back filled as soon as possible.

Money Laundering: EU Law

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to recommendations 12 and 22 of the Financial Action Taskforce guidance, entitled Potentially Exposed Persons, what steps the Government has taken to provide guidance to financial institutions and Designated Non-financial Businesses and Professions on what constitutes a prominent public function for domestic and foreign politically exposed persons; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: In line with the Financial Action Task Force’s international standards, the Government believes that institutions should take reasonable measures to determine whether an individual qualifies as a Politically Exposed Person. The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 set out a non-exhaustive list of individuals who could be politically exposed. The FCA and the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group have published further guidance to assist the industry in identifying and banking Politically Exposed Persons.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Imran Hussain: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on the effect of tax avoidance and evasion on developing countries as part of his preparations for the forthcoming UK Anti-Corruption Summit.

Mr David Gauke: Treasury ministers are in regular dialogue with cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues. The UK has been at the forefront of the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project to tackle tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by multinational enterprises. The project represents an unprecedented international effort that involved over 60 countries, including developing countries, working together to better align the taxation of profits with economic activity and value creation. A dedicated work stream was set up to target the issues which developing countries identified as their highest priorities, including unnecessary tax incentives and tools to undertake BEPS-risks assessments. The BEPS project was completed on 5 October 2015, and the focus is now on implementing the internationally agreed proposals. The UK is chairing a group of over 90 countries who are working together in 2016 to develop the Multilateral Instrument, which will simultaneously update the global network of over 3000 bilateral treaties to implement some of the changes resulting from the BEPS project. The group includes emerging economies and developing countries as well as OECD members. The vice-chairs of the group of representatives from China, Morocco and the Philippines, highlighting the importance of the multilateral instrument to developing countries and their central involvement in its design. As a result of our G8 Presidency, more than 90 countries have agreed to automatically exchange taxpayer financial account information. These global agreements will provide a step change in the ability of countries to tackle tax evasion as participating countries will be automatically sending and receiving information about the offshore financial accounts of taxpayers. All countries will be able to benefit from these changes to the international tax system, but some will require additional support if they are to do so. International organisations are therefore producing practical toolkits to help developing countries implement BEPS standards and the Government is funding international organisations to assist developing countries in obtaining technical assistance on issues such as transfer pricing. The Government funds the Global Forum and World Bank to support developing countries in implementing exchange of information systems and last year the Government announced a partnership with the Ghana revenue authority to pilot the new standard on automatic exchange of information. The Government also funds tax capacity building in the vast majority of its priority developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as through peer-to-peer technical assistance from HMRC.

Bank Services: Fraud

Nadine Dorries: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's policies to tackle bank fraud and scams; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government takes all types of fraud, including those targeted at banks’ customers, extremely seriously. The Home Office is the lead Government department on crime, including fraud, and crime prevention overall. In February 2016, the Home Secretary announced a new Joint Fraud Taskforce. The Taskforce is a collaboration of banks, law enforcement and Government. This is the first time these organisations have come together to tackle fraud, and particularly to focus on those issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone. The Taskforce seeks to identify the issues that will make the biggest difference to our collective fight against fraud.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: Taiwan

Gareth Thomas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on Taiwan's proposed application to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The UK and Taiwan enjoy a constructive relationship in a range of multilateral organisations for which statehood is not a requirement, such as the WTO and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. A decision on whether to apply to be a member of the AIIB is a matter for Taiwanese authorities. Should an application be made the UK will, as for other countries or territories, consider at the time.

Children: Day Care

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on raising awareness of the tax-free Childcare scheme.

Damian Hinds: HM Revenue and Customs, HM Treasury and the Department for Education, and their Ministers, are collaborating closely on the implementation of Tax-Free Childcare and the Extended Entitlement to free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds.

Immigration

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31494, what information his Department holds on the potential percentage change in GDP which would result from estimated levels of immigration in the next 10 years.

Mr David Gauke: The Treasury has not made any formal assessment of the effect of immigration on GDP in the next 10 years.

Immigration

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the level of immigration in each of the next five years to inform its economic forecasts; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The data can be found in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook charts and tables – March 2016, under Chapter 5, Chart 5.6: Past and projected net migration to the UK, available here: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/efo/economic-fiscal-outlook-march-2016/

Fast Food: Taxation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce tax on fast food containers.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review. However, there are no plans to introduce a tax specifically on fast food containers.

Sanitary Protection: VAT

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the reasons why the EU Action Plan on VAT consultation document issued by the European Commission on 7 April 2016 omits any reference to the decision of EU Leads of Government that the UK can remove VAT from women's sanitary products; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The content of the EU VAT Action Plan is a matter for the European Commission. European Council Conclusions welcomed “the intention of the Commission to include proposals for increased flexibility for Member States with respect to reduced rates of VAT, which would provide the option to Member States of VAT zero rating‎ for sanitary products”.

Taxation: EU Action

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the UK has received a guaranteed exemption from any EU Financial Transaction Tax.

Mr David Gauke: The UK is not participating in the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) being developed by 10 EU Member States under the enhanced cooperation procedure. The tax will not therefore be implemented in the UK. The Chancellor has been clear throughout negotiations that the UK will not hesitate to challenge the FTT at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) if it has an extraterritorial impact on non-participating Member States.

Sanitary Protection: VAT

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date he expects the removal of VAT from women's sanitary products to take effect.

Mr David Gauke: The zero rate of VAT for sanitary products will take effect as soon as possible after Royal Assent.

Finance (No. 2) Bill: Families

Mr David Burrowes: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will apply the family test to the Finance Bill and publish the results.

Mr David Gauke: The Government carefully considers all relevant legal obligations – including the Family Test – when formulating policy. This includes policies implemented via the Finance Bill or other legislation.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Housing: Insulation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 26458, how much investment in energy efficiency measures (a) was made during the last Parliament and (b) will be made during this Parliament.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 11 April 2016



Government policies supported investment of around £7.4bn on energy efficiency measures1 over the last parliament. This included spending of: £2.9bn on ECO and the Green Deal2£3.8bn on CERT£0.7bn on CESP3,4 During the course of this parliament, Government policies are expected to support investment of around £3.6bn. This includes spending of5: £1.7bn on ECO6£1.9bn on ECO’s successor7£0.1bn on the Green Deal8 The planned level of spend this parliament reflects Government’s desire to minimise the impact of energy efficiency policies on consumers’ energy bills, reduce reliance on subsidies, and set long-term policy frameworks. Government intends to focus investment on the households that need it most, with the aim of tackling the root causes of fuel poverty. We are working to deliver our schemes more efficiently by reducing administrative complexity. This will improve the overall value for money and ensure as much of the cost of the schemes as possible goes towards delivery. A reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017 will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year for the 5 years to 2022, tackling the root cause of fuel poverty. Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per annum will also help vulnerable households with their energy bills. Together through ECO and Warm Home Discount we will be spending nearly £1 billion a year helping with energy bills. We expect to increase our spending focused on fuel poverty from April 2017 and again in April 2018. We intend to focus our efforts through ECO and WHD more effectively on the fuel poor, and will be consulting on our future approach in the forthcoming months. Footnotes: [1] Supporting costs by measure type are not available, so it is not possible to provide spend on insulation measures specifically. [2] Source: Green Deal and ECO stats https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-energy-efficiency-national-statistics-headline-release-february-2016 [3] Please note that as CERT ran from April 2008 – December 2012, and CESP from Sept 2009 – December 2012, these include some spend prior to 2010. [4] Source CERT Evaluation https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-carbon-emissions-reduction-target-and-community-energy-saving-programme (figures adjusted for inflation)[5] Figures may not add up to £3.6bn due to rounding. [6] Estimated ECO spend (April 2015- March 2017), as reported Future of the energy supplier obligation IA https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/373650/ECO_IA_with_SoS_e-sigf_v2.pdf. Note that suppliers over delivered against their ECO 1 targets (January 2013- March 2015), so actual spend by suppliers may be lower than estimated in the IA. Figures are adjusted for inflation. [7] Supplier spend consistent with the 2015 Spending Review announcement https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479749/52229_Blue[_Book_PU1865_Web_Accessible.pdf (page 39). [8] Based on estimated Green Deal plans, Green Communities, and Green Deal Home improvement Fund spending from May 2015 to April 2020.

Energy: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on applying lessons learned from statistics on low energy bill debts.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC officials have meetings with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis to discuss market issues. I welcome the use of smart technology, such as the introduction of keypad electricity prepayment meters in North Ireland, to help consumers manage their bills and reduce energy debt. The rollout of smart meters across Great Britain has the potential to transform customers’ experience in a similar way.

Business: Energy

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to encourage large businesses to switch to carbon neutral energy sources.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has taken significant steps to encourage large businesses to switch to carbon neutral energy sources. With regard to heat, the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) supports households, businesses, public bodies and charities in transitioning from conventional forms of heating to renewable sources of heat. In November, the Government renewed its commitment to the transition to a low carbon economy by confirming a continued budget for the RHI. The overall budget for the RHI is to rise from £430m in 2015/16 to £1.15bn in 2020/21. With regard to electricity, our policies secured an estimated £42 billion of investment in low carbon generation between 2010 and 2014 alone, with more in the pipeline for the future. Large and energy intensive businesses are incentivised to reduce their emissions – including through use of low-carbon energy sources – through the EU Emissions Trading System. The Government is also working with the eight most energy intensive sectors to produce decarbonisation action plans, drawing on a set of roadmaps published last year. Of course, the lowest carbon energy is the energy that isn’t used and the Department also has a number of initiatives to encourage energy efficiency in business, including the announcements concerning a new carbon and energy reporting regime made by my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Budget. With regard to large businesses switching to carbon neutral energy sources for transport, that is ably supported by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

Geoengineering

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the University of Leeds, Bristol and Oxford's studies of the possible effects of geo-engineering on future populations.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department monitors research into geoengineering and is familiar with the outputs of various programmes including IAGP (Integrated Assessment of Geoengineering Proposals; www.iagp.ac.uk) (conducted by several Universities including Leeds, Bristol and Oxford) and the GGR (Geoengineering Governance Research, conducted by several universities including University of Oxford): http://geoengineering-governance-research.org. Based on these studies and other research we conclude that whilst geoengineering could cool the climate, it may also have unintended effects which could be detrimental to some regions eg in terms of rainfall. For this reason and other identified risks associated with proposed geoengineering, it is premature to consider geo-engineering as a viable option for addressing climate change. For most geoengineering techniques, current understanding of the costs, feasibility, environmental and societal impacts is limited. The government’s position on geoengineering research is given here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308979/Government_s_view_on_geo-engineering_research.pdf.

Climate Change

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential effect of discontinuing funding for the Climate Local programme on the likely level of local authorities' contributions to delivering the UK's emissions reductions targets.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department made of the evidential basis for the capacity for process emissions to be further reduced in cement manufacturing when designing the UK and French government's tiering proposals under the next phase of EU Emissions Trading.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government supports the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a market-based approach to achieve least-cost decarbonisation and maintain a level playing field across the EU. The Government recognises the large proportion of process emissions within some industrial sectors, such as cement. We have engaged with the cement and other sectors’ bodies to understand the enablers and barriers to deep decarbonisation, including through the joint industry-Government decarbonisation roadmaps, which considered the wider policy context and technological barriers. The proposed tiering scenarios are indicative and do not represent a confirmed Government position.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions her Department has had with EDF on board approval for the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor since 30 March 2016; whether her Department has identified people who oppose that scheme on the board of EDF; and whether EDF has informed her Department of the date on which a meeting will be held to make a final investment decision.

Andrea Leadsom: We are in close contact with EDF regarding the Hinkley Point C project. EDF and the French Government have said that EDF are working towards a Final Investment Decision ‘in the near future, with the full support of the French Government’.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what opportunities she plans to provide to allow officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary to redeploy to other territorial police forces.

Andrea Leadsom: This is an operational issue and a matter for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the pension entitlement is of officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

Andrea Leadsom: Under the Energy Act 2004, it is the responsibility of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority to provide and maintain the pensions of the officers of the civil nuclear constabulary. These pensions are currently provided by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reasons the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 sets the retirement age for new entrants to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary at 68; and for what reasons the retirement age of those people is not comparable with officers in other forces.

Andrea Leadsom: This matter is currently the subject of a Judicial Review and I cannot comment further at this time.

Energy Supply

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to publish the impact assessment relating to her Department's consultation on further reforms to the Capacity Market, published on 1 March 2016.

Andrea Leadsom: We are currently reviewing the responses to the 1 March consultation on further reforms to the Capacity Market and will be publishing a Government response shortly. An impact assessment will be published alongside the Government response.

World War II: Medals

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many medals have been issued to men conscripted into UK coal mines under the Bevin Boys Veterans Badge scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: Since 25th March 2008, when the first Bevin Boys Veterans Badge was issued, to the end of March 2016 the Department has issued just over 5,100 Badges to former Bevin Boys and their widows, where their husbands passed away after the Badge was announced on 20 June 2007.

Cabinet Office

Written Questions: Government Responses

Corri Wilson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects to answer Question 26017, tabled by the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock on 5 February 2016.

John Penrose: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 April 2016.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to encourage people who may not be able to vote in person in the EU referendum to apply for a postal vote before the relevant deadline.

John Penrose: The Government has amended the gov.uk/register-to-vote site to ensure electors are informed how to register for a postal or proxy vote and of the deadline to register before the upcoming May elections and EU referendum. Ahead of the referendum registered electors will also receive poll cards informing them how they can apply to vote by post or appoint a proxy. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's overseas network is supporting the Electoral Commission in encouraging British nationals overseas who are eligible to vote to register. This is consistent with previous polls. Expats are encouraged to register as soon as possible and by 16 May at the latest, so that they have time to receive and return their postal ballots ahead of polling day. We have also extended the electoral timetable which means that postal voting packs can be sent out to voters earlier before polling day, to make it easier for postal votes to be cast successfully.

Government Departments: Environment Protection

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the greening government commitments for the current Parliament.

John Penrose: A framework of Greening Government Commitments targets for the current Parliament is being considered by Ministers across Government, and an announcement will be made once arrangements are finalised.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26361, how many officials work in the secretariat in the Cabinet Office that deals with all European matters; to whom such officials report; and what such officials' involvement will be in drawing up contingency plans in the event of a UK exit from the EU.

John Penrose: The secretariat in Cabinet Office that deals with all European matters reports to the Prime Minister's Adviser on European and Global Issues. Information on Cabinet Office staff and salaries is on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-structure-chartsThe Government's position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. The civil service is working to support the Government’s position.

Electoral Register

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding was (a) allocated and (b) spent by his Department's  Democratic Engagement Team in each of the last six years; and what assessment has been made of the efficiency and effectiveness of that team.

John Penrose: The Democratic Engagement Team, which was created in 2013, has enabled a number of civil society organisations to make an important contribution during the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. Overall, this support has contributed to over 15 million applications to register to vote since June 2014. An overview of the maximising registration funding by year can be found below:2012/2013 - £56,5452013/2014 - £4.2m2014/2015 - £9.8m

Electoral Register

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to introduce or pilot a system of automatic electoral registration.

John Penrose: I have considered a range of proposals from local authorities and civil society organisations that could change how registration is currently delivered. The Government is committed to further modernising and improving electoral registration, building on the successful transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER).We are keen to explore further possibilities in this area but are concerned there may be tension between some forms of automatic registration and the principles underpinning IER, namely individual responsibility and ownership over registering to vote.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release of 6 April 2016, entitled Government responds to public desire for EU facts, if the Government will provide a detailed budget breakdown for the digital promotion and website costs associated with the campaign aimed at helping the public make an informed decision in the forthcoming EU referendum.

John Penrose: I refer the hon. Member to my response to the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex of 14 April 2016.

Corruption

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32149, on what page in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts the specific costs incurred by the Government's Anti-Corruption Champion are set out.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Corruption

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of travel overseas by the Government's Anti-Corruption Champion during the course of his duties.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office Referendum Unit

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the budget is of the Cabinet Office Referendum Unit.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants (a) from each Department and (b) at each civil service grade have been seconded to the Cabinet Office Referendum Unit.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost to the public purse is of civil servants seconded to the Cabinet Office Referendum Unit.

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants from across all Government departments and at what grade have been seconded to the Cabinet Office Referendum Unit.

John Penrose: I refer my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden and the hon. Member for Clacton to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans on 18 April 2016 to UIN: 32678.The cost of the secretariat, including the Referendum Unit, will be accounted for in the Department’s annual report and accounts.

Trident Submarines

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority have been assigned to work on the Government's Successor submarine programme; and what (a) their grades, (b) their job titles and (c) the dates of their assignment to work on that programme are.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Commission On Freedom of Information

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what timetable he has set for publication of information on the cost to the public purse of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Government Departments: Procurement

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government recorded in his Department's spending analysis tool that it spent on acquisitions from external suppliers in the last year for which figures are available; and how much and what proportion of central government spending the Government spent with each of the 20 suppliers which received the largest proportion of that spending in that period.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign Investment in UK

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was received in the UK in net earnings from direct investment in companies based outside the UK in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the net earnings were from direct investment in UK companies in each year since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Net Earnings
(PDF Document, 158.79 KB)

Department of Health

Cerebral Palsy: Children

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce a national register of children with cerebral palsy that includes data on the number of children identified with that condition.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help improve awareness of cerebral palsy amongst health practitioners.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what specialist support is available for health visitors in diagnosing and referring children with cerebral palsy.

Jane Ellison: There are no plans to establish a national register of children with cerebral palsy. PACE, the charity which supports children and families affected by motor disorders such as cerebral palsy indicates that the current United Kingdom incidence rate of cerebral palsy is around one in 400 births and that approximately 1,800 children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy every year.It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training to diagnose and provide care for children with cerebral palsy.Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.Employers are responsible for ensuring that staff receive appropriate development to continue to deliver safe and effective healthcare.The Health Visitor training programme is not a condition specific programme of training. Health Visitors are all qualified nurses and/or midwives with a broad range of clinical skills. They undertake an additional year of training to be a health visitor during which they specialise in child and family issues.Health Visitors can support families with a child with cerebral palsy in the management of the clinical aspects of the condition. They can also advise on links to other specialist services, resources and groups to support the needs of the family and the child.The Department has asked the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence to prepare a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of cerebral palsy. It is expected to be published in January 2017.

Obstetrics: Training

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help raise awareness of practical obstetric multi-professional training among medical professionals.

Ben Gummer: In November 2015 the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth. In support of the National Health Service in achieving this ambition over £1 million has been allocated to Health Education England (HEE) to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care.HEE’s Maternity Safety Steering Group have commissioned the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to produce a catalogue of quality assured standardised multi-disciplinary training packages in which practical obstetric multi-professional training will be included.Each NHS trust in England will receive this catalogue and be asked to confirm which training they will implement. This will include medical and midwifery staff. Funding will be available to support this work.

Maternity Services

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what programmes are in place to reduce the number of babies born with a low Apgar score.

Ben Gummer: Apgar is a quick test performed on a baby at one and five minutes after birth. The one-minute score determines how well the baby tolerated the birthing process. The five-minute score tells the doctor how well the baby is doing outside the mother's womb.In rare cases, the test will be done 10 minutes after birth. The Apgar test is done by a doctor, midwife, or nurse. Who examines the baby's breathing effort, heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes and skin colour. Most of the time, a low score at one minute is near-normal by five minutes.Any score lower than 7 is a sign that the baby needs medical attention. The lower the score, the more help the baby needs to adjust outside the mother's womb. A lower Apgar score does not mean a child will have serious or long-term health problems. The Apgar score is not designed to predict the future health of the child.In November 2015 the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth. In support of this ambition more than 90 applications have received additional funding as part of a £2.24 million trusts safety equipment. Over £1 million is being invested to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care. We have also allocated £500,000 to develop, a new online system that can be used consistently across the National Health Service to enable staff to review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death.The announcement also committed to publishing an annual report to update the public, health professionals, providers and commissioners on the progress we are making towards achieving the ambition. On 7 March we launched Sign up to Safety - ‘Spotlight on Maternity,’ a guidance document that asks all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.

NHS: Employment Agencies

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what regional variation there has been in the proportion of shifts which have not been filled since the introduction of national price caps for NHS agency staff.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of changes in the level of expenditure on agency, bank or locum staff since the introduction of national price caps for NHS agency staff.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of changes in the number of nursing, medical and other shifts that have not been filled since the introduction of national price caps for NHS agency staff.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) trusts that have breached the national price caps for NHS agency staff and (b) times those price caps have been breached since their introduction.

Alistair Burt: Information on temporary staff fill rates is not collected centrally.NHS Improvement has calculated that since the introduction of the price caps, agency spending by National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts has fallen from £303 million in October 2015 to £287 million in February 2016.Monitor has previously released information on the number of trusts reporting using shifts in excess of the price caps from 23 November to 28 December 2015. This can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497353/FOI_agency_staff_payments.pdf

HIV Infection: Drugs

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the criteria are for a person to be eligible to receive HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis on the NHS.

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis will be made available on the NHS to people who have (a) been raped and (b) had underage sex.

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the locations are of the pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV test sites; and what criteria were used to determine those locations.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has recently announced that it would make available up to £2 million over two years to enable access for high risk individuals through early implementer test sites. NHS England will work with Public Health England and the Department to confirm the criteria for patient access and assessment of expressions of interest from local authority areas to confirm successful sites. The criteria which will be used to determine the locations of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Test Sites have not yet been established.PrEP is an intervention in advance of sexual exposure, and therefore is not relevant for rape victims who may require post exposure prophylaxis after clinical assessment. With regard to those having underage sex, eligibility for treatment through test sites will depend on the clinical assessment of risk undertaken.

General Practitioners: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to the hon. Member for St Albans to Question 30494, on general practitioners: EU nationals, if he will take steps to collect and publish before 23 June 2016 estimates of the numbers of nationals of other EU member states registered with a GP in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: There are no plans to collect, estimate or publish this information.

Strokes

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have avoided disability from stroke due to the measures contained in the National Stroke Strategy.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the quality and variation of rehabilitation available to stroke survivors.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many stroke survivors are currently in receipt of local authority-funded adult social care.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the quality and geographical variability of speech and language therapy available to stroke survivors in England.

Jane Ellison: One of the actions set out in the 2007 National Stroke Strategy was to increase the rate of thrombolysis (treatment with clot busting drugs), which stood at around 1% of stroke admissions. Data from the Stroke Sentinel Audit Programme (SSNAP) suggests this rate has risen to 11-12%, with around 9,600 stroke patients now benefiting from treatment with thrombolysis each year. Evidence suggests that, on average, 13% of those treated with thrombolysis will have reduced disability as a result. It is therefore likely that more than 1,200 stroke patients per year now benefit from reduced disability due to thrombolysis. Although the Government has made no assessment of the quality and variation of rehabilitation and speech and language therapy available to stroke survivors in England, SSNAP has collected data over the last three years on the rehabilitation that patients get in hospital and when they are discharged in to the community. SSNAP also undertook an audit in 2015 of the provision and organisation of post-acute stroke care which includes details on the provision of speech and language therapy. It shows there are variations around the country in the availability of these services to stroke survivors. The Strategic Clinical Networks and the National Clinical Director for Stroke are working with clinical commissioning groups to help address this.

Dementia: Home Care Services

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical commissioning groups on the provision of support to people with mild to moderate dementia to allow them to remain in their own homes as long as possible.

Jane Ellison: Whilst we are not aware of such specific discussions, dementia is a key priority for the Government. On 6 March 2016, we launched the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. The Implementation Plan sets out the actions partners, including clinical commissioning groups, will take to ensure commitments in the PM Challenge 2020 are delivered. A key commitment in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 is to support people with dementia to be able to live longer in their own homes.The publication ‘Dementia & Homecare: Driving Quality & Innovation’ published as part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia provides clear, practical ideas and suggestions to further dementia care in the community. Driving improvements in homecare will not only help ensure people stay independent for longer but will also support our ambition for people to receive meaningful care following a diagnosis of dementia.As part of the Implementation Plan, the Department will work with the Life Story Network to focus on older people and people with dementia who live in social housing to ensure they are supported to live in their homes for longer with a greater focus on independent living.NHS England is fully supportive of enabling people with dementia to live at home independently for as long as they want to do so. NHS England’s well-pathway for dementia includes streams on both living well and supporting well.

Psychiatry: Training

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for the future levels of bursaries and salary support for trainee child and adolescent psychotherapists.

Ben Gummer: Those undertaking training in child and adolescent psychotherapy are not currently eligible for NHS Bursary funding and tuition funding is determined by Health Education England (HEE) at a local level based on local need.For 2016/17, HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan 2016/17 which was published in December 2015. HEE’s plans for commissioning child and adolescent psychotherapist training places remain unchanged from 2015/16.The Government is working with HEE and other delivery organisations to ensure that the future supply of qualified healthcare professionals continues to meet the needs of the health service.

Wheelchairs

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken in response to the findings of the first set of operational data collected by NHS England on wheelchair services; and what steps he is taking to ensure that short-term wheelchair loans are available for people waiting for provision of NHS wheelchairs.

Alistair Burt: The national wheelchair services data collection was introduced by NHS England in July 2015 and requires clinical commissioning groups to submit quarterly data on their wheelchair services. Data has so far been published for quarter two and quarter three 2015/16. This is a new collection and therefore does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons. The vast majority of short term wheelchair loans are provided through charities such as the Red Cross and not via the National Health Service.

NHS: Finance

Nigel Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) demographic factors, (b) deprivation level factors and (c) factors of difference in distance from target market forces he took into account when determining the funding allocated for (i) Vale of York CCG, (ii) NHS West Cheshire, (iii) NHS North East Essex, (iv) NHS South Warwickshire, (v) NHS Canterbury and Coastal, (vi) NHS Lincolnshire West and (vii) NHE East Riding of Yorkshire.

Alistair Burt: Responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations rests with NHS England and the funding allocated to all CCGs is based on the CCG allocations formula. This is based on advice provided by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). ACRA is an independent committee and reports jointly to the Secretary of State for Health (in regard to public health allocations) and NHS England in regard to CCG and primary care allocations. The formula was initially approved by NHS England in 2013 and they have now reviewed and updated the formula for 2016-17 onwards. The formula is based on the size of the population of each CCG and adjustments, or weights, per head for relative need for health care services and unavoidable costs between CCGs. The weights per head are based on the following:― need due to age (typically, the more elderly the population, the higher the need per head, all else being equal);― additional need over and above that due to age (this includes measures of health status and a number of proxies for health status such as deprivation);― an adjustment for unmet need and health inequalities;― unavoidable higher costs of delivering health care due to location alone, known as the Market Forces Factor (this reflects that staff, land and building costs are higher in for example London than other parts of the country); and― an adjustment for the higher costs of providing emergency ambulance services in sparsely populated areas, and an adjustment for the higher costs of unavoidably small hospitals with 24 hour accident and emergency services in remote areas. The final step of the allocations process is to determine how quickly to move CCGs from their current allocation to the target allocation determined by the formula. The objective is to reduce the ‘distance from target’ so that areas furthest below their target allocation receive the biggest increases. This needs to balance against the need to ensure service stability for those areas above target, and that increases are not so large that resources are not used efficiently. The approach also takes account of the distance from target in each area for primary care and specialised services so that the overall funding position for the area is taken into account. NHS England recently published a technical guide to allocations which sets out all the individual factors used in determining the allocation levels. The guide is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2016/04/allocations-tech-guide-16-17/#

Neuromuscular Disorders: Hydrotherapy

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to work with Muscular Dystrophy UK on increasing access to hydrotherapy pools for people with muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular conditions.

Jane Ellison: NHS England continues to work with Muscular Dystrophy UK through the Bridging the Gap Project, which aims to ensure people with neuromuscular conditions, along with their families, play a leading role in the development and commissioning of the services they use.NHS England commissions some services for patients with neuromuscular conditions nationally as part of its remit to deliver specialised neurological services. However, the majority of services are provided outside of specialised centres and are the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups to provide, should they deem it clinically appropriate. This includes services such as hydrotherapy.In 2012 Muscular Dystrophy UK, working with the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) issued a call for research proposals into the clinical effectiveness of hydrotherapy in maintaining physical function in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The call was made because there is little evidence to support the use of hydrotherapy in relation to DMD and other neuromuscular disorders. The NIHR Health Technology Appraisal programme is now funding a pilot study to look at hydrotherapy for the treatment of DMD, with an evaluation report expected in January 2017.

NHS Improvement: Freedom of Information

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will designate NHS Improvement as a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Ben Gummer: NHS Improvement is the operational name for an organisation that brings together Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority. It is a combination of the continuing statutory functions and legal powers vested in these organisations. Both these bodies are public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, and so NHS Improvement will continue to be subject to FOI requirements.

Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England has placed a requirement on Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust to pay off its deficit.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what requirements NHS England has placed on Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust to provide alternative services to replace services which are to be closed.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England has provided additional funds to cover redundancy costs associated with Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust service closures.

Alistair Burt: We are advised that NHS England has placed no such requirements. These are matters for the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust and its commissioners. We expect all National Health Service trusts to use their resources wisely and within their statutory responsibilities, while delivering high quality, sustainable services to patients. It is for the local NHS to determine the provision of local health services.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new junior doctor contract on the recruitment and retention of junior doctors.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new junior doctor contract on recruitment to acute medicine.

Ben Gummer: Medicine is an extremely popular career choice and we expect that to continue.The new contract for doctors in training will have a positive impact on the working life of doctors and on the training they receive. It introduces stronger safeguards to ensure doctors are not required to work long, unsafe hours, enforced through contractual obligations on employers and external scrutiny of those hours by the Care Quality Commission and the independent Guardian of safe working hours.

Nurses

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage more people to become practice nurses.

Ben Gummer: In October 2015 Health Education England (HEE) published the first ever General Practice Nursing Service Education and Career Framework and accompanying HEE Education Commissioning Specification. This framework is founded on the need to develop the capacity and capability of general practice nurses.Health Careers, part of HEE, also actively promotes all healthcare careers, including practice nursing. Information about a career in practice nursing is available through its website, literature and helpline. This includes information about the benefits of being a practice nurse, the education and training needed and real-life stories from current practice nurses.

Accident and Emergency Departments: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 30491 on A&E departments: EU nationals, whether he plans to collate or estimate the information requested.

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to the hon. Member for St Albans to Question 30492, on maternity services: EU nationals, if he will take steps to collect and publish before 23 June 2016 estimates of the numbers of nationals of other EU member states who have used NHS maternity services in each of the last 10 years.

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to the hon. Member for St Albans to Question 30493, on health services: EU nationals, if he will take steps to collect and publish before 23 June 2016 estimates of the numbers of nationals of other EU member states who received acute care at hospital trusts in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: There are no plans to collect, estimate or publish this information.

Palliative Care

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure provision of sustainable and long-term funding for (a) children's hospice sector and (b) other voluntary sector end-of-life care services.

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy for palliative care funding to provide universal access to bereavement services for bereaved families of children and young people.

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to require health commissioners to make publicly available information on how they commission palliative care for children and young people across their locality.

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that all health and social care staff involved in providing care to children and young people with life-shortening conditions receive specialist training.

Ben Gummer: A review of the allocation methodology of the annual children’s hospice grant is being considered to support an equitable, transparent and evidence based formula making use of data from all children's hospices in 2016/17. The aim is to provide clear advice to hospices on the grant for 2016/17 and a proposed way forward to review the formula and how hospices can contribute to that process. Adult hospices, including voluntary sector hospices, receive on average around a third of their funding from the National Health Service and it is for local commissioners to ensure that the services they commission meet the needs of their local populations, including in end of life care. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility for ensuring that they are meeting the needs of those requiring children’s palliative care services, considering the full range of local provision, both statutory and voluntary sectors, and the wishes of children and young people and their families. CCGs will need to make sure that they provide information on the support available locally for children with palliative care needs and their families. Many maternity units have specialist bereavement midwives and dedicated bereavement suites to support parents but we know that this support is not available in every unit and we are currently considering the actions that we can take to improve bereavement services further. For families of older children and young people chaplaincy services may be able to provide support. It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure staff receive appropriate development to deliver safe and effective healthcare. This includes training in providing care to children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

Care Quality Commission

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been undertaken of the effect on the earnings of people employed under the Experts by Experience programme of implementing the new Care Quality Commission contracts on 1 February 2016.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and adult social care in England. It is responsible for its own staffing requirements and decisions on contracts around the supplying of Experts by Experience for its inspections of providers. The CQC is not the employer of Experts by Experience and does not set rates of pay. The Experts by Experience service has been an outsourced service since its inception. The CQC has advised that contracts were awarded on the basis of a formal procurement that focused on quality and value for money. Whilst negotiating the new Experts by Experience contracts, the CQC worked closely with suppliers to ensure that there was minimum impact on the individual earnings of existing Experts by Experience as well as on the rates for newly appointed Experts by Experience. The CQC is aware of concerns amongst some Experts by Experience in relation to moving between organisations, including rates of pay, in order to continue participating in the work. However, the CQC’s decision to award these new contracts focussed on expanding the numbers of Experts by Experience involved in the CQC’s inspections, ensuring that the high quality contribution Experts by Experience have provided to date is maintained and delivering value for money.

Toxocariasis

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of toxocariasis have been identified in England in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The data are available in the United Kingdom Zoonoses Report, and are published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488376/zoonoses-annual-report-2014.pdfThe data for 2015 are not yet published.

Offences against Children

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31409, on Trauma and the report of the work of the Children and Young People's Mental Health Taskforce, Future in Mind, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children and young people who have been sexually abused or exploited receive a comprehensive specialist initial assessment and referral to appropriate services providing evidence-based interventions according to their need.

Alistair Burt: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are provided on the basis of clinical need in line with guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.Following guidance published by NHS England in August 2015, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners, as proposed in Future in mind. These include plans for how CCGs will ensure that the needs of all children and young people are met locally. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. This includes those who have been exposed to sexual abuse or exploitation.

Wheelchairs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) average and (b) maximum waiting time was for an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one in 2014-15.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time to receive an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one.

Alistair Burt: No data is currently available in relation to waiting times for wheelchairs for 2014-15. A new national data collection has been introduced (from July 2015) to all clinical commissioning groups to allow for transparency and benchmarking their services. Data has so far been published for quarter 2 and quarter 3 2015/16. However, this is a new collection and does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons. The new dataset is part of the work that NHS England is taking forward in partnership with service users, carers and others to lay the foundations for improvement across the country. A tariff for wheelchairs will enable commissioners to move away from simple contracts, and so increase efficiency and better align resources with service users’ needs; support and resources for clinical commissioning groups will help them improve their commissioning of wheelchair services.

Gosport War Memorial Hospital

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to further investigate the deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital; and whether any future inquiry will be statutory in nature.

Ben Gummer: On 10 July 2014, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced the establishment of the Gosport Independent Panel, chaired by Bishop James Jones, set up to review documentary evidence held across a range of organisations concerning the initial care of families’ relatives and the subsequent investigations into their deaths in Gosport War Memorial Hospital.The terms of reference for the Gosport Independent Panel, agreed with the families of the deceased and those treated, were published on 9 December 2014. In summary the terms of reference are to:― consult with the families of the deceased and of those treated to ensure that the views of those affected are taken into consideration;― obtain, examine and analyse documentation from all relevant organisations and individuals (governmental and non-governmental); and― produce a report which will provide an overview of the information reviewed by the Panel and will illustrate how the information disclosed adds to public understanding of these events and their aftermath.The review by the Independent Panel is expected to complete by the end of 2017. Until such time as the findings of the Panel are published the Government does not intend to conduct any further inquiries.

Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential effect of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 on costs to the NHS in the year ending May 2017.

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential effect of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 on costs to the NHS in each year between May 2017 and the end of the current Parliament.

Jane Ellison: The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before making legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument.An assessment of the impact of the provisions introduced by the Tobacco Products Directive will be published alongside the implementing Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 in spring this year. Expected health benefits from improved smoking quit rates have been estimated at around £13 billion.

Mental Health Services and Social Services

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England requires mental health and social care trusts to monitor the effect on service users of service closures.

Alistair Burt: The Government is clear the reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. Services should be tailored to meet the needs of the local population, and proposals for substantial service change must meet the four tests of reconfiguration which are (i) support from general practitioner commissioners (ii) strengthened public and patient engagement (iii) clarity on the clinical evidence base and (iv) support for patient choice. Any proposals for NHS service reconfiguration, including closure of services, must include a robust case for change and impact assessment. NHS England’s good practice guide for commissioners on service reconfiguration advises that: ― Following the decision on which option to take forward, an implementation plan should be set out on how the changes will be taken forward, when and by whom. The plan should identify a clear benefits realisation timetable with key milestones against which progress can be monitored. NHS England’s local teams will offer commissioners support, guidance and ongoing assurance through the implementation phase. The guidance and the assurance process is designed to ensure the outcomes and effects of proposed service changes are taken into account at an early stage. Local commissioners and providers routinely monitor patient outcomes. The good practice guide can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/plan-ass-deliv-serv-chge.pdf

Autism

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff in his Department have received autism awareness training.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle premature mortality among people on the autism spectrum who do not have co-occurring learning disability.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with autism were admitted to hospital as an emergency in 2015.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not collect information on how many of its staff have received autism awareness training. However following the success of its own pilot sessions, the Department will be offering further autism awareness sessions to staff over the summer. Through the Cross Government Autism Strategy, most recently updated as Think Autism, we have worked alongside people with autism, their families and carers to improve their lives and mortality through better access to healthcare by making adjustments for their conditions. This includes supporting the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGPs) Autism Initiative to improve understanding of autism amongst GPs. Information on how many people with autism were admitted to hospital as an emergency in 2015 is not collected by the Department.

HIV Infection

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department plan to attend the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2016.

Jane Ellison: The United Kingdom Government will be represented at this meeting. Precise attendance has still to be finalised.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of bedded inpatient services for young people with mental health conditions.

Alistair Burt: The £1.4 billion additional funding the Government has made available over the course of this Parliament to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind includes £7 million to enable NHS England to commission 56 new inpatient care beds for children and young people with mental health needs. This raises the total number of beds to 1,442, the highest this has ever been.The local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) transformation plans developed during 2015/16 provide the ideal context within which to make decisions about the future requirements for CAMHS T4 beds. The specialised commissioners have reviewed the approach to be taken to the CAMHS T4 procurement and have moved away from a single national procurement to local procurement, clearly set within a national framework. This revised approach will enable variation around timescales and ensure responsiveness to the local agenda. The approach will also reinforce the essential local ownership of capacity plans and pathways of care.We also need to be clear that effective mental health care is about far more than inpatient beds. We are therefore working with local commissioners to strengthen care across the system. The aim is to bolster preventive and early-intervention services that help young people stay well in their own communities, without ever needing inpatient care.

Community Care: Learning Disability

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what arrangements his Department has put in place to ensure that long-term funding is available for the transfer of care for people with learning disabilities from inpatient facilities to community care settings outlined in NHS England's Transforming Care programme.

Alistair Burt: In national service model and Building the right support published in October 2015 NHS England, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services set out how areas would be supported to deliver lasting change to people with a learning disability and/or autism who display behaviour that challenges.To develop community capacity, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), local authorities and NHS England’s specialised commissioners have formed 48 transforming care partnerships (TCPs) to plan for the future. TCPs have been asked to use the total sum of money they spend as a whole system on people with a learning disability and/or autism to deliver care in a different way to achieve better results. This includes shifting money from some services (such as inpatient care) into others (such as community health services including mental health services or individual packages of support). The costs of the future model of care will therefore be met from the total current envelope of spend on health and social care services for people with a learning disability and/or autism.During a phase of transition, commissioners will need to invest in new community support before closing inpatient provision. To support them to do this NHS England will make available up to £30 million of transformation funding over three years, to be matched by CCGs, and £15 million in capital funding. This funding is in addition to the £10 million made available to six fast track areas in 2015/16.

NHS Health and Wellbeing Review

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Boorman Review of NHS health and well-being services, published in November 2009.

Ben Gummer: The Government has supported the National Health Service in implementing the Review’s recommendations by commissioning NHS Employers to support NHS trusts in improving the health and well-being of their staff.Progress has been made with NHS staff sickness absence rates falling from 4.48% at the time of the Boorman review to 4.25% according to the latest sickness absence data[1] from the Health and Social Care Information Centre.However, NHS sickness absence remains too high. NHS Employers is currently working with NHS England and Public Health England on the £5 million initiative announced last year:https://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/09/improving-staff-health/which includes a major drive for improved NHS staff health, spearheaded by a group of leading NHS hospital, mental health, ambulance, community and clinical commissioning group employers, in partnership with NHS Employers and Public Health England.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also published evidence-based guidance for all NHS employers on how to improve the health of their staff. An audit of the implementation of the guidance carried out by the Royal College of Physicians in 2013 identified that 121 trusts then had a board member responsible for staff health and wellbeing and 65% of trusts audited had an overarching health and wellbeing strategy in place. Further details of the audit findings can be found at:https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/implementing-nice-public-health-guidance-workplace-2013-round-2[1] http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=20431&q=sickness+absence&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top

Maternity Services

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 32013, what sanctions will apply to NHS maternity units which do not reduce their rates of stillbirth and neo-natal death.

Ben Gummer: The mandate to NHS England includes a goal and deliverable for measurable progress towards reducing the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries that are caused during or soon after birth by 50% by 2030 with a measurable reduction by 2020.The mandate also has a deliverable for in 2016/17 to implement agreed recommendations of the National Maternity Review in relation to safety, and support progress on delivering Sign up to Safety. On 7 March we launched ‘Spotlight on Maternity’ as part of ‘Spotlight on Safety’ and asked all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to placing a spotlight on maternity and to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.The Department holds NHS England to account for progress against the mandate, which will include progress against the deliverable and goal above. It would be for commissioners (NHS England or clinical commissioning groups) to design contracts to incentivise providers to reduce their rates of stillbirth and neonatal death, and NHS Improvement may look at these rates as part of regulating providers.

Hospitals: Drugs

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to recommendation three of the report Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations, published in February 2016, when he expects NHS Improvement to publish a list of the top 10 medicines with savings opportunities for trusts to pursue; what methodology will be used to develop that list and whether it will be subject to consultation; whether that list will include medicines prescribed in primary care; what steps NHS Improvement will take to monitor performance of trusts against that list; whether he intends that NHS Improvement will intervene in those trusts failing to realise savings opportunities; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: The Department’s Hospital Pharmacy Transformation Programme team are currently undertaking extensive consultation with trusts, key partner organisations and stakeholders as part of our Model Hospital development process, to produce our shortlist of medicines. Our initial focus will be on medicines prescribed exclusively in National Health Service hospitals. We expect that trusts will wish to take such opportunities into account as part of the hospital pharmacy transformation plans they must have in place by April 2017. NHS Improvement will support trusts during the process of creating the plans to ensure they are robust and also address the medicines optimisation recommendations in Lord Carter’s report.

Liver Diseases

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost of treating a patient with (a) hepatitis C, (b) cirrhosis and (c) hepatitis C and cirrhosis has been in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the table below and is from reference costs, which are the average unit cost to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year. Reference costs are published annually, with most recently available data being for 2014-15. Reference costs for acute care are collected by healthcare resource group (HRG), which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that consume similar levels of healthcare resource. HRGs are organised by chapters and sub-chapters, representing different body systems, and HRG sub-chapters GC and PG describe hepatobiliary and pancreatic system disorders for adults and children respectively. The average costs in the following table will therefore include the costs to NHS hospitals of treating hepatitis C and cirrhosis, as well as the costs of other related disorders. These costs do not include high cost drugs, or treatment in outpatient or other settings outside of hospital. They reflect the costs of a single episode of care under one consultant for a patient admitted to hospital. Patients admitted to hospital may have multiple episodes of care and each one of these episodes will be recorded separately.  Table: Average cost to NHS hospitals of treating hepatobiliary and pancreatic system disorders, 2014-15 (excluding high cost drugs, or treatment in outpatient or other settings outside of hospital) Average cost per unit of activity (£)Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders1,751Paediatric, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders2,344Source: Reference costs, Department of Health Notes:The following HRGs are included in the table:GC17A Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with Multiple Interventions, with CC Score 9+GC17B Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with Multiple Interventions, with CC Score 4-8GC17C Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with Multiple Interventions, with CC Score 0-3GC17D Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with Single Intervention, with CC Score 9+GC17E Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with Single Intervention, with CC Score 4-8GC17F Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with Single Intervention, with CC Score 0-3GC17G Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, without Interventions, with CC Score 8+GC17H Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, without Interventions, with CC Score 5-7GC17J Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, without Interventions, with CC Score 2-4GC17K Non-Malignant, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, without Interventions, with CC Score 0-1PG71A Paediatric, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with CC Score 2+PG71B Paediatric, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with CC Score 1PG71C Paediatric, Hepatobiliary or Pancreatic Disorders, with CC Score 0These HRGs are common groupings of the ICD-10 codes used to count the number of finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of hepatitis C or cirrhosis. They also include other ICD-10 codes.For each HRG or other currency in the reference cost collection, NHS hospital trusts submit a unit cost and amount of activity undertaken.

Hearing Impairment: Norfolk

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients with hearing loss (a) in each age group, (b) who (i) were and (ii) were not eligible for free prescriptions and (c) treated by each of the Any Qualified provider suppliers in Norfolk were treated by (A) Norwich, (B) South Norfolk and (c) North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not held centrally.

Urinary System: Diseases

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues on what evidence should be used to determine basic treatment for people presenting with acute urinary tract infections.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients with chronic acute urinary tract infections can access appropriate treatment on the NHS.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not determine which treatments should be available for what ailments. National Health Service commissioners are responsible for making decisions on individual treatments on the basis of the available evidence, taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) where available.NICE guidance is always evidence based, assuring us of the latest clinical thinking and research to determine the best treatment for patients.The guidelines from NICE for urinary tract infections can be found here:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg171/chapter/1-recommendationsNHS England published new guidance on 16 November 2015 to help improve the care and experience of people with continence issues. This includes the most up to date evidence to support commissioners and providers. The guidance can be found on NHS England’s website and accessed via the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/11/16/continence-care/

Electronic Cigarettes

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had on the (a) positive and (b) negative effects of e-cigarettes on people who try to stop smoking.

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of e-cigarette users who have (a) resumed smoking and (b) purchased vaping supplies from black market sources.

Jane Ellison: The best thing a smoker can do to improve their health is to quit smoking for good.The Department recognises that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) can help smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes.This Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control plan to further reduce the prevalence of smoking in England. The development of this plan is underway and will be published later this year. The new strategy will consider the role of e-cigarettes in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England. To help inform this element of the strategy the Department has been engaging with e-cigarette experts to ensure that local authorities and Stop Smoking Services are provided with up to date, evidenced based advice on e-cigarettes.Whilst the Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of e-cigarette users who have resumed smoking, the evidence suggests that in the short-term, relapse rates are lower in those using e-cigarettes to quit.The Department has not made an assessment of the number of e-cigarette users who have purchased vaping supplies from black market sources.

NHS: Crimes of Violence

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many verbal and physical assaults on NHS staff have been recorded in the last three years.

Ben Gummer: Information on the number of verbal assaults on National Health Service staff is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.NHS Protect collates figures annually on reported physical assaults on NHS staff in England.The table below shows the number of reported physical assaults in the last three years:Reported physical assaults against NHS staff2012-132013-142014-1563,19968,68367,864Detailed tables of information on the number of physical assaults since 2004-05, as reported by each health body, is at: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/3645.aspx

NHS: Migrant Workers

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many migrants from other EU countries work in the NHS in London.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many migrants working in the NHS have no recourse to public funds.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many migrants from other EU countries work in the NHS in England.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects data on the number of staff working in National Health Service hospital and community health services (HCHS) in England.Nationality is a self-reported field within the electronic staff record system. The following table shows the number of HCHS staff from other European Union (EU) countries who declared their nationality who work in the NHS in England and in London.Information on the number of employees from other EU countries working in London is only available for those people working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.England 30 September 2015Headcount   All staffPeople from other EU countries working in EnglandPeople from other EU countries working in LondonEmployees in NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups1,151,13852,81217,735Employees in Central Bodies and Support Organisations36,4561,015n/aTotal1,187,59453,82717,735Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, NHS Hospital and Community Health Service workforce statisticsInformation on how many employees working in the NHS have no recourse to public funds is not available.

NHS: Migrant Workers

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people working in the NHS were refused NHS treatment on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adults were refused NHS treatment on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016 to date.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were refused pregnancy termination on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adults were refused chemotherapy on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children were refused chemotherapy on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children were refused NHS treatment on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016 to date.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not hold this information. National Health Service hospital treatment is free to those people who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, or those exempt from charge under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, as amended. Anyone else should present a European Health Insurance Card, S1 or S2 form or pay direct for their NHS care. Those who need care and treatment urgently will still receive it even if they are chargeable and cannot pay straight away.

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses have been recruited by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust in each of the last 10 years.

Ben Gummer: The information requested is not available in the format requested. The Health and Social Care Information Centre advises the available data is based on all nurses and doctors who are paid through the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and complete ESR data of the quality required is only available from 2009. Such information as is available is in the following table.   Numbers of new Joiners in the 12 month period from 30 September Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 2009-20102010-20112011-20122012-20132013-20142014-2015NHS Hospital & Community Health Service (HCHS) Doctors122134131141171160Nurses and health visitors12914682152212139Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, HCHS workforce statistics.Notes:Turnover data is based on headcount.These joiners are to Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and to the HCHS Doctors and Nurse & health visitor staff groups.Data is based on all nurses and doctors who are paid through the NHS ESR.Complete ESR data of the quality required is only available from 2009, which is why we provided the data for the past 6 instead of 10 years.These figures include junior doctors.Following a public consultation in 2015, categorisation of trusts and staff groups has changed therefore restricting comparability with previous publications.

Hyperparathyroidism: Diagnosis

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines are in place for the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyrodism; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce misdiagnosis of that condition.

Jane Ellison: Hyperparathyroidism is a rare hormone disorder caused by the parathyroid glands in the neck producing too much parathyroid hormone. This causes blood calcium levels to rise (hypercalcaemia) and blood phosphorus levels to fall (hypophosphatemia).Best Practice guidance concerning the diagnosis and management of both primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism has been published by the British Medical Journal. The guidance can be found via the Best Practice portal at the following link:http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/welcome.html In addition to this, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Clinical Knowledge Summaries website provides similar information on the management of hyperparathyroidism in the context of it being a cause of hypercalcaemia.cks.nice.org.uk/hypercalcaemia#!scenario:1

NHS: Migrant Workers

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on overseas recruitment exercises in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Ben Gummer: Local National Health Service organisations are best placed to decide how many staff they employ and how best to recruit those staff to meet services tailored to the needs of their patients and local communities, to deliver safe care. Information on the costs that NHS trusts may have incurred when seeking to employ staff either within the United Kingdom or overseas is not collected by the Department.

Mobile Phones: Health Hazards

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of what constitutes a safe level of exposure of electromagnetic fields from mobile telephone use for (a) the population as a whole and (b) young people.

Jane Ellison: Government policy is that exposures to electromagnetic fields from mobile phones should comply with the guidelines on limiting exposures from the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Public Health England keeps the evidence relevant to this policy under review and published a comprehensive review of the evidence prepared by its independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation in 2012. Acute and long-term effects of high frequency exposure from the use of mobile phones have been studied extensively without showing any conclusive evidence of adverse health effects. The ICNIRP website can be found at:http://www.icnirp.org

NHS: Fees and Charges

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to industry of the proposal in Question 35 of the Department for Health consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether an impact assessment has been undertaken of the proposal in Question 35 of his Department's consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.

Alistair Burt: In relation to the Department’s recent consultation on extending charging to overseas visitors using the National Health Service in England, a lack of available data means that it has not been possible to estimate the cost to industry of the proposal to remove the exemption from charge category for overseas visitors working on United Kingdom-registered ships. However, the proposal was included in the Impact Assessment and is thought to be small overall.   We are currently analysing responses to the consultation.

Dementia: Research

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support the Government gives to fund research into Alzheimers disease and dementia.

Jane Ellison: Government funding for dementia research doubled over the last Parliament to around £60 million each year, and will be maintained at this level to total over £300 million in the period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. The Government announced in the Spending Review that we would be spending up to £150 million on the United Kingdom’s first Dementia Research Institute. The Institute will cover the full spectrum of discovery science into age-related neurodegenerative diseases that have an element of dementias.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the consultation on the database created by the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 will involve (a) medical research charities, (b) the pharmaceutical sector and (c) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

George Freeman: The Health and Social Care Information Centre will consult with stakeholders including charities, the relevant Royal Colleges, industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and other relevant bodies in the creation of the Database described in the Act, when the power vested on the Secretary of State is enacted.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in England who are categorised as Children in Need due to abuse or neglect have been (a) referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and (b) received treatment from CAMHS in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: This data has not been collected centrally. However, in February this year for the first time the Health and Social Care Information Centre began collecting a range of data about children and young people’s use of secondary mental health services via the new Mental Health Services Dataset. This includes data on whether children and young people using services are looked-after and are, or have been, subject to a child protection plan. Data quality and quantity will take time to build, but we expect a range of national reports to be developed during the course of 2016.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Local Transformation Plans in improving the scale, quality and effectiveness of therapeutic support available to children who have experienced abuse.

Alistair Burt: Support for vulnerable groups, which includes children who have experienced abuse, is key to the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services as set out in Future in mind. To assess the effectiveness of Local Transformation Plans (LTPs), NHS England’s Local Transformation Plan Guidance included a tracking template that all clinical commissioning groups had to complete. It set out local progress milestones and financial spend. This tracker will be used as the basis for assurance assessment in 2015/16, and from 2016/17 onwards progress on local transformation will become part of the mainstream planning assurance process to ensure the successful delivery of the transformation of children and young people’s mental health. NHS England has also commissioned a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the LTPs, in order to support policy makers, local commissioners and services to understand and use the data that is contained within the plans to drive further improvements. LTPs will be reviewed from a narrative, analytical and financial perspective, with thematic reviews carried out in key focus areas, that align with Future in mind principles. This includes vulnerable groups.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department had with the Department for Education on improving data centrally collected on the mental health and therapeutic support needs of children who have experienced abuse.

Alistair Burt: The Department of Health has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Children in Care

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Looked After Children were (a) referred to mental health services and (b) accepted for treatment by mental health services in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: This data has not been collected centrally. However, in February this year for the first time the Health and Social Care Information Centre began collecting a range of data about children and young people’s use of secondary mental health services via the new Mental Health Services Dataset. This includes data on whether children and young people using services are looked-after. Data quality and quantity will take time to build, but we expect a range of national reports to be developed during the course of 2016.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in England on a child protection plan have been (a) referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and (b) received treatment from CAMHS in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: This data has not been collected centrally. However, in February this year for the first time the Health and Social Care Information Centre began collecting a range of data about children and young people’s use of secondary mental health services via the new Mental Health Services Dataset. This includes data on whether children and young people using services are, or have been, subject to a child protection plan. Data quality and quantity will take time to build, but we expect a range of national reports to be developed during the course of 2016.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the legal status is of Sustainability and Transformation Plan (a) footprints and (b) leadership teams.

George Freeman: Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprints and leadership teams do not have legal status or legal duties. The local, statutory architecture for health and care remains, as do the existing accountabilities for provider and local authority chief executives and clinical commissioning group accountable officers. Health and care organisations remain accountable for their individual organisational plans, which should form part of their footprint’s STP.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether public consultation was undertaken prior to the formation of Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints.

George Freeman: The NHS Shared Planning Guidance (December 2015) asked each area to develop a proposed Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprint, engaging with local authorities and other partners on what this should look like. The footprints were reviewed by the national bodies with regard to: geography (including patient flow); scale; fit with footprints of existing change programmes; financial sustainability; and leadership capacity. STPs are not statutory entities but collective discussion fora which aim to bring together health and care leaders to support the delivery of improved health and care based on the needs of local populations.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the sources of public finance will be for Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints; whether each such footprint will have separate accounts; and whether such footprints will have the ability to borrow.

George Freeman: Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprints are not statutory entities and therefore will not have the ability to borrow. As set out in the NHS England Board paper in December 2015, organisations covered by the STP footprints may collectively apply to operate using a system control total.

Health Services: Regulation

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many regulatory bodies there are in the health sector; and what the direct annual cost to his Department is of running each such body.

Ben Gummer: The regulatory bodies in the health sector are listed in the table below. Arm’s Length Body (ALB) /Executive Agency (EA) Regulatory Bodies [1]Care Quality CommissionHealth Research AuthorityHuman Fertilisation & Embryology AuthorityHuman Tissue AuthorityMedicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory AgencyNHS Improvement [2] Other BodiesProfessional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care Professional Regulatory BodiesGeneral Chiropractic CouncilGeneral Dental CouncilGeneral Medical CouncilGeneral Optical CouncilGeneral Osteopathic CouncilGeneral Pharmaceutical CouncilHealth & Care Professions CouncilNursing & Midwifery CouncilsPharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland The funding provided via Parliamentary funding or Grant in Aid for 2013/14 and 2014/15 for the ALB/EA regulatory bodies and the Professional Standards Authority is attached. Data for 2015/16 is not yet available.The professional regulatory bodies are independent of government and there is no direct cost to the Government because they are funded through the registrants’ fees. [1] As defined in the Cabinet Office’s Categories of Public bodies: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/80075/Categories_of_public_bodies_Dec12.pdf[2] From 1 April 2016, NHS Improvement is the operational name for an organisation that brings together Monitor and NHS Trust Development Authority.



Regulatory bodies in the health sector
(Excel SpreadSheet, 18.16 KB)

NHS Leadership Academy

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have completed a course at the NHS Leadership Academy since the Academy's inception.

Ben Gummer: The NHS Leadership Academy was established in 2012. Its programmes support leaders at every level across the health and care system. 33,421 people have participated on the Academy’s programmes to date.

Mental Health Services

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of NHS England's Mental Health Taskforce report published in February 2016; and what governance arrangements have been put in place to support the implementation of those recommendations.

Alistair Burt: The Government is working with delivery partners to carefully consider the Taskforce’s recommendations, and aims to publish an Implementation Plan in the summer that will set out how Government and partners will deliver the recommendations.

Department of Health: Pay

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what enhancement to pay rates officials in his Department receive for working on Saturdays and Sundays.

Ben Gummer: Civil Servants at the Department are contracted to work Monday to Friday. Senior Civil Servants are not eligible to claim any paid overtime for weekend or late working outside of contracted hours. In the majority of cases, for civil servants in the delegated grades (AO-G6), overtime is paid in exceptional circumstances and must be agreed in advance with the appropriate senior official. The rate for paid overtime is dependent on the official’s grade and/ or the day worked.

Tuberculosis: Screening

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage homeless people to be screened for tuberculosis.

Jane Ellison: The Collaborative Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy for England 2015-2020 was launched in January 2015[1]. It lays out 10 key ‘areas for actions’ which include improving TB awareness raising, TB case finding (screening) and treatment for under-served populations such as the homeless; which are being delivered across England by seven TB Control Boards supported by a national TB team. These actions are underpinned by collaborative working between third sector organisations, local authorities, Public Health England and the National Health Service. The work focuses on targeted awareness-raising of symptoms and curability of TB; the range of local health and care services; and eligibility for free treatment. Specific and targeted outreach interventions for under-served populations (informed by proven models such as ‘Find and Treat’ in London) include specific services for active case finding for pulmonary TB among homeless people, use of mobile X-ray units (MXUs) with incentives for people to have chest X-rays, enhanced case management and return to service interventions to prevent loss to follow up.  [1]Public Health England. Collaborative Tuberculosis Strategy for England 2015 to 2020 [Internet]. 2015. Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/collaborative-tuberculosis-strategy-for-england

Tuberculosis: Screening

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of tuberculosis screening.

Jane Ellison: Actions to raise awareness and tackle stigma among populations at high risk of tuberculosis (TB) are highlighted in the Collaborative TB Strategy for England 2015 to 2020. These actions consist of awareness raising of symptoms, targeted TB screening and education as part of new patient checks at general practice surgeries and the use of community workers and health advocates to signpost and facilitate patient access to local services. In addition, TB awareness raising is provided to statutory and voluntary agencies working with: the homeless; individuals who misuse drugs or alcohol; and migrants from countries with high TB incidence. Efforts to raise awareness of TB among health professionals are supported nationally by Public Health England and the leading national TB charity, TB Alert. In addition, I have attended and hosted a number of events to raise awareness, most recently for World TB Day in March which included visiting the Find and treat mobile unit.

Motor Vehicles: Smoking

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32147, whether his Department plans to bring forward proposals to enable police to issue fixed notices for people smoking in cars with children present.

Jane Ellison: The police use traffic offender reports to record information on a range of offences, including for smoking in private vehicles carrying children. Local authorities can then take appropriate enforcement action, including the issue fixed penalty notices, rather than the police.Guidance on the use of traffic offender reports to share information with local authorities has been circulated to police forces.

Diabetes: Health Services

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of trends in diabetes incidence on changes in medical provision for people with  diabetes.

Jane Ellison: Both the prevalence and incidence of Type 2 diabetes has been rising, driven by increasing obesity and an ageing population. The numbers of people diagnosed with the condition are projected to grow from 2.9 million in 2014/15 to 4.6 million by 2030. In addition, a further 5 million people are estimated to be at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The Government is therefore committed to introducing a national Type 2 diabetes prevention programme and improving the management and care of people with diabetes within the lifetime of this parliament. These commitments are reflected in Government’s 2016/17 mandate to NHS England. This is in the context of our wider public health programme to prevent disease and promote good health which includes a strong focus on tackling obesity, one of the most common, modifiable risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes. For example, the announcement for a soft drinks industry levy by the Chancellor in the budget is the first step in this Government’s comprehensive childhood obesity strategy, which we will be launching in the summer.

Paramedical Staff

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of qualified paramedics within the NHS to meet demand.

Ben Gummer: Health Education England (HEE) has worked closely with all English ambulance services through the Paramedic Evidence Based Education Project programme, both to modernise the future training of paramedics and other ambulance service workers to be fit for future services.The national commissioning of paramedic training has increased significantly since 2013 and in the last year alone HEE has commissioned an additional 605 places on 2015/16 figures, which is an increase of 53.8%.

Mental Health Services: Staff

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Approved Mental Health Professionals were employed in the public sector in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not collected centrally.Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are enough Approved Mental Health Professionals available to meet local need.

Mental Health Services: Pregnancy

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of pregnant women had a mental health assessment in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not collected.

Mental Health Services: Autism

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time for autistic adults with mental health problems to access psychiatric therapy was in (a) England and (b) each clinical commissioning group in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, as recommended by the independent Mental Health Taskforce, the Department is developing a five-year plan for the development of mental health data to be published by the end of this year. The plan will set out future data requirements and timings for developing data to inform pathways of care which will include data requirements for autism.

Palliative Care Funding Review

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken in response to the Palliative Care Funding Review, published in July 2011.

Ben Gummer: In response to the Review recommendations, the Government established a large-scale two year data collection exercise to find out more about palliative care costs, with the aim of working towards a fairer, more transparent funding system for palliative care. From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for this work. The data collection concluded in 2014 and NHS England published a palliative care development currency in February 2015. Over 2015/16 the currency has been tested and refined in a number of local areas around the country. During 2016, NHS England will engage with key stakeholders on the results of this testing and make a definitive set of currencies available for use in April 2017. The currencies will allow commissioners and providers of specialist end of life care to ensure the best services are being provided to meet people’s needs regardless of care setting.

Surgery: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients from Halton Borough have been waiting for more than 18 weeks for a surgical procedure.

Ben Gummer: The information requested is available from the web link below: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/Incomplete-Provider-Feb16-XLS-3690K-hjkhj.xls Patients have a legal right, set out in the NHS Constitution, to start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. The referral to treatment (RTT) waiting time standard is that 92% of patients still waiting to start treatment (incomplete pathways) should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks from referral at the end of each month. At the end of February 2016 Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust reported 24,902 patients waiting to start consultant-led treatment were on an incomplete RTT pathway. 23,069 (92.6%) of these were waiting within 18 weeks from referral, while 1,833 patients were waiting more than 18 weeks. It is not possible to identify how many patients were waiting for surgical procedures.

Abortion

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that abortion clinics transfer women to hospital at the earliest stage necessary in the case of serious incidents.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Care Quality Commission report, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS-Richmond, Quality Report, published in November 2015, what steps his Department is taking to improve safety in abortion clinics.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Care Quality Commission report, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS-Richmond, Quality Report, published in November 2015, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on consultation on disposal arrangement following terminations.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Care Quality Commission report, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS-Richmond, Quality Report, published in November 2015, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on the administration of drugs.

Jane Ellison: The termination of pregnancies is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and must meet all of the relevant Regulations under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, including meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety, which includes independent sector termination of pregnancy providers and managers. The CQC is responsible for monitoring and, where appropriate, inspecting providers in relation to their ongoing compliance with meeting those requirements. Independent sector providers are also required to comply with the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures which the CQC inspect against. The CQC has made a public commitment to undertake inspection of all independent providers of termination of pregnancy services using their new inspection approach and will continue to respond to risk as appropriate and take regulatory action as required. On the issue of whether the Department plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on consultation on disposal arrangements following termination, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 April 2016 to Question 32357.We have no plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on the administration of drugs. The administration of drugs is managed through the CQC’s fundamental standards and through inspection visits.

Drugs: Regulation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to adopt a target encouraging the reclassification of medicines from (a) prescription only medicine to pharmacy medicine status, (b) pharmacy medicine to general sales list medicine status and (c) prescription only medicine to general sales list medicine status; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for each medicine reclassified from (a) prescription only medicine to pharmacy medicine status, (b) pharmacy medicine to general sales list medicine status and (c) prescription only medicine to general sales list medicine status in the last 25 years, what the cost to the public purse was of prescribing that medicine in the three years (i) prior to and (ii) following its reclassification.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which medicines have been reclassified from (a) prescription only medicine to pharmacy medicine status, (b) pharmacy medicine to general sales list medicine status and (c) prescription only medicine to general sales list medicine status in each of the last 25 years; for each of those medicines so reclassified what condition that medicine was designed to treat; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Government is committed to the continued reclassification of medicines from prescription only to pharmacy classification and from pharmacy to general sales list classification when it is safe to do so and there is a clear benefit to public health. This is an important part of empowering patients to manage their own care. The Government’s medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is at the forefront of moves to reclassify medicines to non-prescription and is recognised as a leader in Europe in this regard.Over the years reclassification has been facilitated by improving the regulatory environment for manufacturers to achieve successful reclassification of their products. Amendments to legislation were introduced in 2002 to reduce the legislative burden for reclassification; new guidance was published in 2012 to streamline the process; and in 2015 a United Kingdom platform was set up to maximise stakeholder engagement with the aim of encouraging further reclassification of medicines.Patient safety remains the prime consideration in any decision to make a medicine available without prescription.We are unable to calculate the total difference in cost to the public purse following these medicine reclassifications.The attached tables contain the information for each of the last 25 years on medicines reclassified from prescription only medicine (POM) to Pharmacy (P) medicine and P medicine to general sales list (GSL) medicine. There are no examples of medicines which have been reclassified from POM to GSL. Where relevant, brand names have been included in brackets.The lists represent the first reclassification either from POM to P or P to GSL of the product and further extensions such as wider indications, additional pack sizes or higher strengths have not been included.Not all products listed are currently available, for various reasons, including both commercial and regulatory.



Reclassification of Medicines Table
(Word Document, 25.28 KB)

Women and Equalities

Age: Discrimination

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of age discrimination legislation in respect of people seeking employment.

Caroline Dinenage: Age is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. Where differential treatment because of age cannot be objectively justified, this will constitute unlawful age discrimination both in employment and in the provision of goods and services. Enforcement of the Act’s employment provisions is undertaken by Employment Tribunals, to which a person must make a claim if they feel that they have been discriminated against because of age.Prior to an Employment Tribunal claim, conciliation services are provided by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Services (Acas). According to the Employment tribunal statistics, 1,087 age discrimination claims were made to Employment Tribunals in 2014/15. 70% (761) of these claims were either withdrawn or successfully conciliated by Acas without the need for a full hearing. The Acas process is intended to enable employers and employees to resolve disputes without the need for a full Employment Tribunal hearing.The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s enforcement powers under the Equality Act 2006 apply to age discrimination as they do to other protected characteristics.